NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire -05/18/12)-
The market for Manhattan retail space has tightened in the most prominent shopping corridors with asking rents on Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue seeing significant increases, according to The Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY’s) Spring 2012 Retail Report. Demand for prime store space continues to raise the asking rents and prestige in these retail corridors.

The report found that average asking rents on Upper Fifth Avenue between 49th and 59th streets have shot up 22 percent to $2,750 per square foot for ground floor space compared to the Spring of last year. Average asking rents for ground floor space on Madison Avenue between 57th and 72nd streets have increased a sizable 31 percent to $1,203 since the Spring of 2011. On Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 49th streets, asking rents were up a whopping 75 percent to $900 per square foot as lack of available space on Upper Fifth Avenue caused a trickle-down effect.

“Our report shows that asking rents in the exclusive shopping corridors in Manhattan are increasing significantly as a result of competition for prime space in these areas,” said Steven Spinola, REBNY President. “One of the most significant developments in this period according to our Retail Advisory Group has been the relentless ground floor asking rent increases for retail space on Lower Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 49th Streets. The advisory group attributed this surge in asking rents to the lack of space on Upper Fifth Avenue, which caused a spillover effect for the available space on Lower Fifth Avenue, and also the result of the high degree of pedestrian traffic on the avenue.”

The top five increasing prime shopping corridors this report period were:

1) Fifth Avenue between 42nd and 49th streets with asking rents surging 75 percent compared to spring of last year.

2) Madison Avenue between 57th and 72nd streets with asking rents up 31 percent to $1,203 since spring of last year.

3) A tie between East 86th Street between Lexington and Second avenues where, with few listings, asking rents were driven up 23 percent to $410 per square foot since last year, and Herald Square on West 34th Street between Fifth and Seventh avenues, with asking rents also increasing 23 percent to $558 per square foot.

4) Upper Fifth Avenue between 49th and 59th streets saw asking rents up 22 percent to $2,750, again attributed to the lack of prime available space in that corridor.

5) In SoHo on Broadway between Houston and Broome streets — where only a few prime spaces are still available — asking rents were up 11 percent to $551 per square foot.

Overall, asking rents for all space in Manhattan are up two percent since the fall of 2011 and down one percent compared to a year ago.

REBNY’s Retail report compiles data about asking rents for available space provided by a broad cross-section of the city’s leading retail brokers.

Tweet this: Report cites big increases in asking rents for city’s primary shopping corridors on 5th and Madison Aves @REBNY report: http://rebny.com/.

For the full report visit www.rebny.com.

IRVINE, Calif., May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — TNP Strategic Retail Trust, Inc. (the “Company”), a public non-traded REIT that invests in grocery and drug-store anchored, multi-tenant necessity retail properties and other real estate-related assets, announced today the completion of the Company’s eighteenth acquisition, Willow Run Shopping Center, a retail center located in Westminster, Colorado, a suburb of Denver.

Willow Run Shopping Center is a 95,791 square-foot retail center built in 1999 and anchored by Safeway, a S&P Rated BBB grocery store. The center is 88 percent leased by a variety of national and regional tenants including: McDonald’s (S&P Rated A), Advance America, Allstate, Subway and Rosati’s Pizza.

“Willow Run Shopping Center is located in a thriving suburb of Denver with a dense, growing population of more than 90,000 residents within a three-mile radius and solid credit tenants, including Safeway and McDonald’s,” said Thompson National Properties‘ senior vice president, acquisitions, Steve Corea. “The center has more than 30,000 vehicles pass by the property each day and is easily accessible from major traffic arteries, including Interstate 25 and Federal Blvd.”

About TNP Strategic Retail Trust, Inc.
TNP Strategic Retail Trust, Inc. is a publicly registered non-traded REIT that invests in grocery and drug-store anchored, multi-tenant necessity retail properties, located primarily in the Western United States, and real estate related assets, including investment in or origination of mortgage, mezzanine, bridge and other loans related to commercial real estate. TNP Strategic Retail Trust has acquired 18 shopping centers in 14 states containing more than 1.8 million square feet at an overall purchase price of approximately $231 million. For more information regarding TNP Strategic Retail Trust, please visit www.tnpsrt.com.  

About Thompson National Properties, LLC
Thompson National Properties, LLC (TNP) is an international real estate advisory company, specializing in the creation and management of real estate investment funds. TNP uses a variety of investment structures to fit the needs of its investors, which are designed for both institutional and high net worth individual investors. Thompson National Properties is also a leader in both property and asset management and receivership services, a key element in any successful commercial real estate investment in today’s lender-driven marketplace.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, Thompson National Properties was founded in April 2008 and has six regional offices. As of May 18, 2012, Thompson National Properties manages a portfolio of 151 commercial properties, in 30 states, totaling approximately 17.4 million square feet, on behalf of over 5,600 investor/owners with an overall purchase value of $2.1 billion. For more information regarding Thompson National Properties, please visit www.tnpre.com.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (the “Company”) (NYSE:RPT – News) announced
today that it has entered into definitive purchase agreements to acquire
four shopping centers in Colorado, Missouri and Wisconsin. The
acquisitions are subject to customary closing conditions. The closings
of the purchases are expected to occur in late May or early June 2012.
It is anticipated that the purchases will be all cash transactions.

• Harvest Junction North and South are regional community centers in the
  metropolitan Boulder, Colorado area. The purchase prices for Harvest
  Junction North and Harvest Junction South are approximately $35.5
  million and $33.7 million, respectively. Combined, the two shopping
  centers encompass 327,875 square feet and feature a dynamic line up of
  national, creditworthy retailers, including Bed Bath & Beyond,
  Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, DSW Shoe Warehouse, Dick’s Sporting
  Goods, Lowe’s (anchor-owned), Best Buy, Michaels, Staples, ULTA
  Beauty, Dollar Tree and PETCO. The shopping centers were built in
  2006. In addition to the acquisition of Harvest Junction North and
  South, which are currently 96% leased, the Company is under contract
  to purchase an additional 14 acres of land adjacent to Harvest
  Junction North for a purchase price of approximately $2.7 million, for
  future expansion. Harvest Junction North and South are located at the
  high traffic intersection of Ken Pratt Boulevard and South Main Street
  in Longmont, Colorado. The shopping centers are part of a growing and
  affluent trade area. Over 30% of the households have an average income
  that exceeds $100,000 and the three-mile population is expected to
  grow approximately 4% over the next five years.
• Central Plaza is located in metropolitan St. Louis, Missouri. The
  purchase price for Central Plaza is approximately $21.6 million. A
  retenanting of the shopping center was completed this year to include
  a new Ross Dress for Less and buybuy Baby. The 166,468 square foot
  center is also anchored by Office Max and JoAnn Fabrics. Central
  Plaza, currently 100% leased, marks the Company’s third acquisition in
  the metropolitan St. Louis market. Central Plaza is located on the
  northeast quadrant of Manchester Road and Vlasis Drive, approximately
  20 miles west of downtown St. Louis in the suburb of Ballwin. The
  three-mile trade area population is 78,000 and has an average
  household income of $102,000.
• Nagawaukee Shopping Center is located in the greater Milwaukee,
  Wisconsin area. The purchase price for Nagawaukee Shopping Center is
  approximately $15.1 million. The 113,617 square foot shopping center
  is anchored by a Kohl’s Department Store and complemented by Bath &
  Body Works, GNC, Maurice’s, the UPS Store and Cost Cutters. The center
  is also anchored by a 60,000 square foot Sentry Supermarket, which is
  not part of the acquisition. Nagawaukee Shopping Center is
  Ramco-Gershenson’s third property in the greater Milwaukee area and
  its fourth asset in the state of Wisconsin. The shopping center is
  located at the northeast quadrant of Interstate 94 and Highway 83 in
  Delafield, one of the most affluent suburbs of Milwaukee with an
  average three-mile household income of $105,000.

The Company also announced the sale of two non-core shopping centers
located in Florida, Pelican Plaza and Southbay Shopping Center, which
generated net proceeds of approximately $5.4 million.

“The planned purchase of these four shopping centers reflects our focus
on acquiring high-quality assets in trade areas with a superior
demographic profile and that have a strong national, credit-quality
tenant line-up,” said Dennis Gershenson, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Ramco-Gershenson. “All of the centers are vibrant shopping
destinations that will complement our portfolio of dominant,
multi-anchored properties. These acquisitions coupled with our recent
sales of non-core assets reinforce our goal to concentrate our efforts
on quality of life communities that have growing populations with high
average household incomes and educational levels, as well as being
located in close proximity to thriving industries.”

About Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust

Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT – News) is a fully integrated,
self-administered, publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT)
based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Our primary business is the
ownership and management of shopping centers in targeted markets in the
Eastern and Midwestern regions of the United States. At March 31, 2012,
the Company owned and managed a portfolio of 80 shopping centers and one
office building with approximately 14.9 million square feet of gross
leasable area owned by the Company or its joint ventures. The properties
are located in Michigan, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, Wisconsin,
Illinois Indiana, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Tennessee. For
additional information regarding Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust,
visit the Company’s website at www.rgpt.com.

This press release may contain forward-looking statements that represent
the Company’s expectations and projections for the future. Management of
Ramco-Gershenson believes the expectations reflected in any
forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on
reasonable assumptions. Certain factors could occur that might cause
actual results to vary, including deterioration in national economic
conditions, weakening of real estate markets, decreases in the
availability of credit, increases in interest rates, adverse changes in
the retail industry, our continuing ability to qualify as a REIT and
other factors discussed in the Company’s reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his wife, Asma, in Paris in 2010.Syrian first lady Asma al-Assad’s infamous luxury shopping sprees may be coming to an end.

European foreign ministers due to meet Friday in Brussels are expected to slap new sanctions on the dictator’s wife.

The sanctions, if agreed, would mean the British-born Asma al-Assad “will no longer be able to travel to the EU or buy from EU-based shops, in her own name,” Reuters reports. The proposed new measures come as the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to endorse a statement pledging support for former U.N. chief Kofi Annan’s peace mediation efforts in Syria.

Recently released emails, allegedly written by Bashar al-Assad and his wife and obtained by Syrian opposition activists, document Asma al-Assad’s shopping obsession. In the emails, Asma al-Assad, a former investment banker, discusses Christian Louboutin shoes and mulls European clothing and furniture purchases, even as thousands of her countrymen were being slaughtered in the Syrian regime’s brutal crackdown.

Under the subject line, “Christian Louboutin shoes coming shortly,” Asma al-Assad asked an unidentified friend by email, “Does anything catch your eye? These pieces are not made for the general public,” according to a Feb. 3, 2012, email posted by the Guardian newspaper.

“Haha.. Ur gonna laugh, I actually LOVE them!!!” the unidentified correspondent responds. “But I don’t think they’re not going 2 b useful any time soon unfortunately.”

(Profiled in Vogue magazine last year, Asma al-Assad previously revealed her preference for Chanel couture clothing for her petite frame.)

It’s not clear, however, how much the proposed EU measures will actually hamper Asma’s pipeline to luxury acquisitions. The leaked emails show that she and her husband used aliases (sk@alshahba.com for him, ak@alshahba.com for her) and a Dubai shipping address to skirt sanctions over the past year.

But as the friend’s cautionary email about the maybe-not-so-useful-anytime-soon Louboutin shoes suggests, even some of the ruling couple’s inner circle and intimate correspondents seem to be becoming increasingly exasperated with Asma al-Assad’s frivolity (and her husband’s cruelty) as the death toll in the country mounts.

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