SAN MATEO, CA and SINGAPORE--(Marketwire -06/21/12)- Menlo Worldwide Logistics, the global logistics subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (CNW), announced construction is ahead of schedule on its eighth Singapore facility, a 400,000-square-foot build-to-suit warehousing and retail distribution management center on Sunview Way. The new facility, which is being constructed to achieve the Singapore Building and Construction Authority's (BCA) Green Mark Gold Plus certification, is expected to be completed this fall.

The center will house inventory and distribution operations for several current Menlo customers, while retaining substantial capacity for new customers, noted Desmond Chan, managing director, South Asia for Menlo Worldwide Logistics. "We are getting a lot of interest in this facility, which will be among the most environmentally friendly commercial logistics facilities in the region," said Chan. "We welcome the interest and we encourage local businesses to consider this facility for high-efficiency warehousing and distribution services."

To achieve the BCA's Green Mark Gold Plus certification, the facility incorporates several advanced design and construction features emphasizing high levels of environmental sustainability and energy and water resource conservation. These features include the use of green cement and recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) for concrete used in constructing the main building elements, west-facing faade orientation, tinted reflective glass windows and sun-shading provisions for increased thermal efficiency. "Receiving the BCA Green Mark Gold Plus certification for our Sunview facility is an honor and a clear indicator of our commitment to environmentally friendly facilities and practices," Chan said.

To further increase energy conservation, the facility will be equipped with high-efficiency air-conditioning equipment, as well as advanced lifts designed with AC variable voltage and variable frequency motor drive and sleep mode features. High frequency ballasts in fluorescent luminaries, such as Philips T5 Lighting, will provide efficient, quality workplace lighting. Additional features which promote environmental sustainability include motion sensors and timers on electric appliances and lighting, as well as sustainably sourced office carpet, internal partitions and ceiling boards.

Following completion of construction, Menlo intends to operate the facility using Lean methodologies and practices promoting operational efficiency, environmental sustainability, waste minimization, energy and resource conservation, and recycling of reusable goods.

With operations in Singapore for nearly 20 years, Menlo provides a wide variety of logistics, warehousing, inventory and transportation management, distribution, fulfillment, light manufacturing and supply chain design and engineering services for local and multinational customers. The new Sunview facility will provide product warehousing and distribution, high-velocity picking and packing operations, customized labeling and return management services. The company expects to employ 150 people once the site is fully operational.

"By emphasizing green-certified development practices and materials, Menlo is setting the precedent for other leading companies to follow," said Nitin Chhabra, Head of Supply Chain, Philips Lighting. "The company is working to grow and expand its business footprint in Singapore while simultaneously reducing its environmental footprint. We are proud that Philips Lighting products will play a role in that process." Philips will be a customer in the new facility, where Menlo will be providing a range of services including inbound receipt of finished goods, storage and inventory management, pick/pack fulfillment and shipping of orders to local Singapore and Asia regional customers.

Menlo's existing seven facilities are located throughout Singapore with 450 employees and provide dedicated and multi-client distribution services. Menlo also operates additional multi-client logistics facilities in Southeast Asia, as well as China, India, Australia, North America and Europe.

Follow the Con-way companies on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MenloLogistics

Menlo Worldwide Logistics images are available at http://www.con-way.com/en/about_con_way/newsroom

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Construction Ahead of Schedule on Menlo Worldwide Logistics' Advanced Green Distribution Center

By Kris Hudson

Many cities saddled with a dying mall envision rebuilding the eyesore as a multilevel, mixed-use complex with vibrant stores, offices and condominiums.

Most of those cities are dreaming, and the harsh reality is that their derelict retail properties likely will linger and deteriorate for many more years, according to Don Wood, president and chief executive of shopping center owner Federal Realty Investment Trust.

Mr. Wood oversees a real-estate investment trust that owns 85 shopping centers totaling 19 million square feet in major U.S. cities. Yet, he told an audience at the National Association of Real Estate Editors annual conference on Wednesday that he considers the U.S. to be overbuilt with retail properties.

There is too much retail supply in this country, and that will affect values and redevelopment and whether or not something gets torn down, Mr. Wood said in a 50-minute address at the Denver conference.

Thats a concern as the U.S. faces the likely failure of many retail properties in the coming years due to the ongoing rise of online shopping and store closures by one-time stalwarts such as Best Buy and Abercrombie & Fitch. Green Street Advisors, an analysis firm that tracks REITs, has forecast that 10% of the roughly 1,000 large malls in the U.S. will fail within the next 10 years and be converted into something with far less retail. Thats a conservative estimate; many mall CEOs predict that the attrition rate will be higher.

U.S. retail vacancy rates continue to decline from their recent heights, partly due to the dearth of new retail construction after decades of overbuilding. Retail vacancy in the top 54 U.S. markets was 7.3% in this years first quarter, down from a high of 7.9% in the first quarter of 2010, according to real-estate research company CoStar Group. Retail space now amounts to 50.2 square feet per capita in the top 54 U.S. markets, CoStar says.

With the specter of more ghost malls looming, municipal leaders often draft plans to replace their failing mall with dense, mixed-use projects intended to serve as new city centers. The trouble is, many markets lack the key elements needed to support such a project, Mr. Wood said. He should know, since Federal Realtys main specialty is redeveloping urban shopping centers into mixed-use projects such as the REITs Bethesda Row in Bethesda, Md., and Santana Row in San Jose, Calif.

First and most important, mixed-use projects require a much higher population density and household income than typically are found in the markets surrounding a failed mall. Second, building such dense projects is highly expensive due to underground parking and multiple floors above grade. Third, not all developers are savvy enough to coordinate construction of divergent real estate such as retail, residential, office and hotel.

Fourth, such mixed-use projects are so expensive that the local municipality often must provide some type of financial assistance, which some cant readily do.

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Retail REIT Executive: Most Failed Malls Will Languish

Home business Bangkok retail market recovered from floods

Bangkok Retail

The Nation June 21, 2012 1:00 am

CBRE measured the level of shopping-centre development in 180 of the world's major cities to identify the most active markets, both in terms of 2011 completions and space currently under construction.

The research found that development activity had reached significant levels, with 29.6 million square metres under construction globally - equivalent to all the combined existing space in France, the United Kingdom and Germany - while 7.8 million square metres of new space opened last year.

Emerging markets such as China, Turkey and India are far more active than the more mature markets of Western Europe and North America.

Last year, new shopping centres opened in 63 of the cities covered in the survey, of which 50 were in emerging markets. In contrast, only five cites in Western Europe saw the opening of a new centre.

"In Bangkok, the retail market saw a full recovery from the floods of 2011. All retail stores closed during the floods were reopened and retail sales improved," said James Pitchon, executive director - head of CBRE Research in Thailand.

"The two key trends are community malls in Bangkok and expansion of major retail developers to upcountry; CPN, the country's leading retail property developer with a 22-per-cent market share of leasable area of Bangkok's shopping malls, plans to open five new malls upcountry within this year."

The company said the total retail supply in Bangkok as of the first quarter of this year had risen to 5.75 million square metres, an increase of 1 per cent from the final quarter of last year and 5 per cent from the same period a year ago, with the majority of new additions in the community mall format.

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Bangkok retail market recovered from floods

The owners of California Shabu Shabu, a Japanese restaurant chain where customers cook their own food in boiling pots of water seasoned with kelp, plan to open a new eatery in Belmont Shore.

Located at 5242 E. Second St., between Legends and Peets Coffee & Tea, the fourth installation of California Shabu Shabu is scheduled to open this summer, likely in August, said owner Ash Chan. The Second Street location was formerly a shoe store.

The original California Shabu Shabu opened 15 years ago in Fountain Valley, Chan said. We believe in Belmont Shore and I just moved here, to Belmont Heights. We are so excited to open our doors in the center of Second Street and Belmont Shore.

Chan said it has taken several months to renovate the space and transform what once was a retail store into a venue with a kitchen and dining room.

The biggest problem was engineering and the repairs that needed to be done so that we could install the proper ventilation and equipment for this to be a restaurant, Chan said. Its probably been about eight months of work, maybe more. We are really hoping to be open in August.

Meanwhile, the business owner is applying for a beer and wine license and completing the restaurants design, which includes brick facades, wall murals, window frame television mounts and a modern, industrial style that mirrors the industrial history of Long Beach.

Derek Burnham, city planning administrator, said permits have been issued for construction of the restaurant. Although the restaurant is taking the place of a retail storefront, he added that the owners have worked with the city to ensure that parking will not be impacted.

Parking is always complicated in Belmont Shore, Burnham said. Using typical zoning code calculations for parking requirements, he explained that because California Shabu Shabus dining area will be considerably smaller than the former shoe stores total square footage, no additional parking spaces would be required.

Restaurants need to have more parking per square foot than retail spaces, but restaurant square footage is based on the dining area only, whereas retail parking requirements are based on total square footage.

If we keep the dining area small enough, then the business really cannot accommodate extra patrons, he said. This has been typical for other buildings in the area that have gone from retail to restaurant space.

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Shabu Shabu Restaurant Fills Vacant Retail Space In Belmont Shore

The Sports Authority store at Santa Fe Place is planning to double its space by moving into part of the old Mervyn's site early next year in what mall owners hope will spark redevelopment of the shopping center.

Sports Authority, a privately held company based in Englewood, Colo., has a 19,000-square-foot store inside the mall. The expansion would double its space and give the store a higher profile, the manager said.

Construction on the 40,000-square-foot Mervyn's space will begin in October, with the opening of a new Sports Authority set for spring 2013, according to a news release from Trademark Property.

The current Sports Authority space is not enough to allow for a full-service store. With the expansion, the sporting goods store will have its own entrance and be able to offer a full line of products, said Tommy Miller, president of the Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co.

Founded in 1928, Sports Authority operates 450 stores in 45 states and has 7,400 employees, but the only other New Mexico store is in Albuquerque. No one from Sports Authority was available to elaborate on the expansion.

Trademark Property acquired Santa Fe Place with a private equity partner in June 2010. It has since announced redevelopment plans for the mall, which has 571,000 square feet of retail space with Dillard's, J.C. Penney and Sears as anchors. But those plans have stalled due to the economic downturn.

Miller said Sports Authority will take two-thirds of the Mervyn's space on the side by Sears. There is interest in the rest of the space, and the commitment by the sporting goods chain should help recruit new tenants, he said.

The Mervyn's retail chain declared bankruptcy in 2009, and the space has been empty since then.

According to the Trademark Property Co. website, the mall redevelopment would include:

An open-air "lifestyle court" at the main entrance.

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Sports Authority to expand into old Mervyn's site at mall

LONDON (ShareCast) - - Markets look to FOMC with optimism - G20 meeting still ongoing, leaders pledge support - Whitbread (Other OTC: WTBCF.PK - news) , Home Retail lead risers in London Central bank (Other OTC: CBSU.PK - news) stimulus speculation was doing the rounds today ahead of a key policy meeting in the US, fuelling a strong rise for the Footsie (FTSE: ^FTSE - news) - the index finished at its highest level in over six weeks. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) convened today for a two-day meeting, with markets hoping that members will vote on further easing measures in light of recent mixed economic data and Eurozone concerns - the S&P 500 (SNP: ^GSPC - news) index rose to a one-month high after the opening bell in New York (Frankfurt: A0DKRK - news) . "It's possible that the Federal Reserve will do something else," market strategist David Kelly from JPMorgan Funds was quoted as saying this afternoon. "It's possible that they will do some further extension of Operation Twist. They seem overly sensitive to the possibility that the market will react badly to them not taking action." The Office for National Statistics revealed today that UK inflation fell from 3.0% to 2.8% in May, under expectations and back within the government's target level, prompting speculation that the Bank of England would soon ramp up its quantitative easing programme. There were also rumours that the European Central Bank is considering pursuing a 'Funding for Lending' scheme for European banks similar to the action announced last week in the UK which offers lenders capital below market rates to lend to businesses. Meanwhile, the Group of 20 (G20) summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, is still ongoing, yet a leaked draft communiqu said leaders have pledged to take "all necessary measures to safeguard the integrity and stability" of the Eurozone. FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) : Whitbread surges after 'robust' Q1

Forecast-beating like-for-like (LFL) sales growth in its first quarter saw shares of Whitbread jump today. The Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner reported that LFL sales increased by 4.5%, better than expectations of a 3% improvement. Numis said that the numbers were very encouraging and thinks that "the business model is looking very robust". Engineering (Milan: ENG.MI - news) group Weir was also making impressive gains after reiterating its full-year forecast at its capital markets presentation today. Jefferies has said that this implies the reconfirmation of the pre-tax profit guidance of 470m "which would in theory be equivalent to a 4% upgrade versus Bloomberg consensus forecasts". Property firm Hammerson (Paris: GB0004065016 - news) rose after announcing that it is set to off-load most of its London office space as it pushes forward with plans to focus solely on retail space. The company has exchanged contracts on the majority of its office portfolio with Brookfield Office Properties for 518m. Consumer products (OTC BB: CPSV.OB - news) and food groups were firmly out of favour today after France's Danone (Milan: DNN.MI - news) slashed its 2012 guidance on the back of the tough trading environment in Europe (Chicago Options: ^REURUSD - news) in the second quarter. Household cleaning and cosmetic firm Unilever (Other OTC: UNLNF.PK - news) was unwanted, along with sweeteners giant Tate & Lyle (EUREX: TATF.EX - news) and breads manufacturer AB Foods. FTSE 250 (FTSE: ^FTMC - news) : Home Retail rockets on Argos performance

Shares in Home Retail Group (EUREX: HOMF.EX - news) leapt after sales at its Argos division held up in the first quarter, delighting investors who expected them to be hit by bad weather. The stock jumped nearly 24% after Argos revenues came in at 819m for the quarter, down 0.2% on a like-for-like basis. The City consensus was for a 4% fall in like-for-like sales in the three months to the start of June after the wettest April in 100 years. Fellow retailer Dixons was on the up after Bank of America (NYSE: IKJ - news) upgraded the stock to 'neutral'. Engineering and construction group Kentz (LSE: KENZ.L - news) rose strongly after it said it was on track to hit its revised targets as its backlog of work continued to grow.At the end of May 2012 that backlog had grown to $2.5bn, up from $2.46bn in April. Military counter-measures specialist Chemring was a heavy faller after saying that global defence markets continue to be uncertain, with budget cuts in all NATO countries. Nevertheless, it remains confident of a strong second half and meeting full-year expectations. FTSE 100 - Risers Whitbread (WTB) 1,967.00p +6.38% Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 435.00p +5.05% Weir Group (Other OTC: WEIGF.PK - news) (WEIR) 1,503.00p +4.59% BG Group (Hamburg: BGO.HM - news) (BG.) 1,284.00p +4.31% Wolseley (Berlin: WLY1.BE - news) (WOS) 2,322.00p +3.99% Kingfisher (Euronext: KFR.NX - news) (KGF) 284.00p +3.92% Kazakhmys (Munich: A0HFWR - news) (KAZ) 743.00p +3.84% Prudential (LSE: PRU.L - news) (PRU) 731.00p +3.69% IMI (Xetra: 389425.DE - news) (IMI (EUREX: IMIF.EX - news) ) 865.50p +3.65% ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L - news) (ARM) 508.00p +3.55% FTSE 100 - Fallers Tate & Lyle (TATE) 638.00p -1.31% Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 276.30p -0.93% Intertek Group (Other OTC: IKTSF.PK - news) (ITRK) 2,571.00p -0.92% Diageo (Other OTC: DGEAF.PK - news) (DGE) 1,590.50p -0.72% Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) (FRES) 1,549.00p -0.58% Unilever (Amsterdam: UNIA.AS - news) (ULVR) 2,075.00p -0.57% Associated British Foods (Dusseldorf: 719064.DU - news) (ABF) 1,224.00p -0.41% Polymetal International (POLY) 906.50p -0.33% Rexam (Xetra: 860000 - news) (REX) 407.50p +0.10% Severn Trent (Stuttgart: A0LBHG - news) (SVT) 1,749.00p +0.17% FTSE 250 - Risers Home Retail Group (HOME) 91.85p +23.54% Dixons Retail (Other OTC: DSITF.PK - news) (DXNS) 15.91p +16.99% Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 365.90p +12.58% Carpetright (Xetra: 904879 - news) (CPR) 728.50p +7.05% Halma (HLMA) 400.40p +5.17% Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 124.70p +4.88% Essar Energy (Dusseldorf: 11224817.DU - news) (ESSR) 120.10p +4.71% Savills (LSE: SVS.L - news) (SVS) 349.50p +4.70% SEGRO (Munich: A0N9B0 - news) (SGRO) 222.90p +4.31% Ferrexpo (Stuttgart: A0MRG2 - news) (FXPO) 218.40p +4.05% FTSE 250 - Fallers Chemring Group (CHG) 293.50p -9.25% Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 456.90p -5.95% Bumi (BUMI) 349.10p -2.70% Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 550.00p -2.65% AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 290.80p -1.86% Man Group (LSE: EMG.L - news) (EMG) 73.10p -1.75% Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 200.00p -1.67% Interserve (Xetra: 860509 - news) (IRV) 297.20p -1.49% NMC Health (NMC (Other OTC: NMCX.PK - news) ) 199.70p -1.38% Perform Group (PER) 373.00p -1.32% BC

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London close: Stocks jump ahead of FOMC meeting

Last Updated: June 18, 2012 01:54pm ET

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Brunelli said the large majority of empty big-box lots 73 % - have been vacant since April 2011.

OLD BRIDGE, nj-Bankruptcies and closures of big-box stores sapped the impact of retail expansion that occurred over the past year, says R.J. Brunelli in its annual report on vacancies in northern New Jersey's six major retail corridors.

In fact, the retail vacancy rate edged up again, to 8.2% from 8.1% a year ago, and 8% in 2010, reported the Old Bridge-based firm. In 2008, the pre-recession vacancy rate was 3.6%.

The companys survey, conducted in April,found 2.33million square feet of vacancies within the 28.3 million square feet of leasable area along the corridors. "I thought last year that we would have lower vacancy rates at this point, because the retail real estate market bottomed out last year at this time," saidRichard J. Brunelli, president. "There was a lot more activity this year than last year with retailers seeking new locations. But I didn't anticipate more bankruptcies and more closures. They offset the substantial amount of expansion that occurred."

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Retail Vacancy Rises Above 8% As More Big Box Space Goes Dark in Northern NJ

A developers planned construction of a 600-space parking garage in downtown Jacksonville has run into opposition because the original concept featured no ground-floor retail space.

Parador Partners of Atlanta wants to start construction this year of the parking garage, which would be next to the SunTrust Tower and across the street from The Jacksonville Landing.

But the Downtown Development Review Board, responsible for enforcing compliance with downtowns zoning requirement, balked at the garages design because it had no ground-floor space for shops or restaurants.

A downtown overlay approved in 2003 requires parking garages built in the core to have such space. The regulation is aimed at preventing parking garages from being dead zones with no sidewalk-level activities for people walking through downtown.

Parador Partners is weighing its options, said John Norris, a project director for the Haskell Co., which is the architect representing Parador.

He said Parador has not decided whether it will submit a revised concept that has first-floor retail space.

Ashish Bahl, a Parador principal, did not return calls for comment.

The city last year agreed to earmark $3.5 million to help Parador finance construction of the garage in exchange for the garage setting aside 200 weekday spaces and 375 weekend slots for public use.

The Downtown Development Review Board deferred voting June 7 on a conceptual plan for the parking garage. Board members then met last Thursday with Haskell representatives.

Board member Timothy Miller said the presentation by Haskell appeared to satisfy concerns by showing ground-floor retail. He said expects that will be in the revised plan submitted to the city, and he is not in favor of waiving the requirement.

Excerpt from:
Proposed downtown Jacksonville parking garage in trouble

A developers planned construction of a 600-space parking garage in downtown Jacksonville has run into opposition because the original concept had no ground-floor retail space.

Parador Partners of Atlanta wants to start construction this year on the parking garage, which would be next to the SunTrust Tower and across the street from The Jacksonville Landing.

But the Downtown Development Review Board, responsible for enforcing compliance with downtowns zoning requirement, balked at the garages design because it had no ground-floor space for shops or restaurants.

A downtown overlay approved in 2003 requires parking garages built in the core to have such space. The regulation is aimed at preventing parking garages from being dead zones with no sidewalk-level activities for people walking through downtown.

Parador Partners is weighing its options, said John Norris, a project director for the Haskell Co., which is the architect representing Parador.

He said Parador has not decided whether it will submit a revised concept that has first-floor retail space.

Ashish Bahl, a Parador principal, did not return calls for comment.

The city last year agreed to earmark $3.5 million to help Parador finance construction of the garage in exchange for the garage setting aside 200 weekday spaces and 375 weekend slots for public use.

The Downtown Development Review Board deferred voting June 7 on a conceptual plan for the parking garage. Board members then met last Thursday with Haskell representatives.

Board member Timothy Miller said the presentation by Haskell appeared to satisfy concerns by showing ground-floor retail.

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Downtown parking garage hits snag over lack of retail space

Retail follows rooftops, and theres no better example than Colorado Springs fast-growing north side and northern El Paso County.

Five retail centers totaling nearly 5 million square feet are open, under construction or planned within about eight miles of each other between Colorado Springs and Monument, along or near the Interstate 25 corridor.

They range from the 30-year-old Chapel Hills Mall to Copper Ridge at Northgate, a newcomer whose developer announced in February that Bass Pro Shops would be the projects first anchor.

The attraction for developers and retailers to the north side: Annual household incomes in far north ZIP code areas ranged from an average of about $67,000 to nearly $113,000 in 2011 making them among the highest in the Pikes Peak region, according to Springs-based Norwood Development Groups marketing brochure for its InterQuest Marketplace shopping center.

Thousands of those upper-end households, meanwhile, sprang up over the past 25 years on the Springs north and northeast sides, the Tri-Lakes communities of Monument, Palmer Lake and Woodmoor, and unincorporated El Paso County areas north of town. More housing is on the way.

But as retail centers battle for tenants and shoppers, and even as the north side has grown dramatically, some real estate experts wonder if that one area of the Pikes Peak region can absorb the surge of big boxes, smaller stores and restaurants.

Is there enough demographics, enough population, enough income in order to support it? Thats the trick, said John Egan, a broker with NAI Highland Commercial Group. I worry we dont have enough density to support all of those developments up along that corridor at full capacity.

Home construction has picked up locally this year, yet the pace of building remains far behind levels of seven to eight years ago.

To get every one of them (retail centers) developed as envisioned will absolutely take more rooftops, said Patrick Kerscher, a broker with Landmark Commercial Group. Will there be portions of each one that get done? Probably. But I dont know that youll have 100 percent occupancy and 100 percent completion on all those development plans for quite some time.

How long? At least a decade, Kerscher said.

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North side retail boom: Can the area handle it all?