Malls of America originally uploaded this promotional spot last April. But it’s worth highlighting again.

This 1957 video offers a walk-through of the Hillsdale Shopping Center, including an explanation of all the food options at the property. The mall offered a farmer’s market that was clearly one of its main attractions at the time.

It’s most interesting to see just how much mall aesthetics (not to mention mall marketing) have changed in the 50 years since this spot was filmed. Of course, there’s also a lot that remains the same, including the idea of doing a fashion show at the mall and getting celebrities to make appearances to draw traffic. And the property still has its Macy’s.

Centro Properties Group has reached a deal to acquire New Plan Excel Realty Trust in a $6.2 billion deal.

This is Centro’s third acquisition of a U.S. retail REIT. Last year, it bought Heritage Property Trust for $3.2 billion and in late 2004 it bought Kramont Realty Trust for $1.3 billion.

More details to come later today in our e-newsletter.

In response to an instance of a breastfeeding mother being harassed by mall security at the Berkshire Mall, a group of mothers staged a nurse-in earlier this week.

Dozens of women staged a breast-feeding protest at the Berkshire Mall on Saturday to protest a security guard’s recent action in telling a nursing mother to use a blanket or stop.

“If adults get hungry at the mall, they eat,” said 24-year-old Lindsay J. Turner. “My child needs to eat, and he should be allowed to eat at the mall. Mothers should not be forced to breast-feed children in their homes. The babies need to eat when they get hungry.”

The breast-feeding women and other protesters, some carrying signs with slogans such as “I was Breastfed in Public,” said the “nurse-in” was a response to a Feb. 17 incident in which guards told Leigh Bellini, 29, of Shillington, to use a blanket or stop nursing her 7-month-old son.

“I am holding back tears,” Bellini said before feeding her son at the protest. “I can’t believe how much support I have here. I wasn’t expecting this at all.”

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National Real Estate Investor is reporting that Paris-based Sodexho Alliance SA has retained U.S. investment bank Lazard to help it launch a $5 billion bid for Chicago-based Jones Lang LaSalle.

Why would a global cafeteria operation be hankering for JLL anyway? It may not be as odd a fit as it sounds. After all, Sodexho is one of the largest providers of food and facilities management in North America and it operates in 75 countries outside of the U.S. If Sodexho could leverage the power of JLL’s 1 billion sq. ft. global empire of managed properties, a merger could be accretive for both sides.

One of Sodexho’s primary business lines is corporate cafeterias. There are clearly a few of these scattered throughout JLL’s 982 million sq. ft. portfolio of commercial space as that total is weighted towards office space. JLL also manages several municipal retail destinations, among them high-traffic areas like Manhattan’s Grand Central Terminal and Union Station in Washington, D.C. The JLL Web site claims that the firm is the largest third-party shopping center manager with a 38 million sq. ft. portfolio of domestic centers.

After 18 months, Gap Inc. has decided its Forth and Towne concept isn’t working.

Forth & Towne, which caters to middle-aged women, had been launched by former Gap CEO Paul Pressler who stepped down last month following a dismal holiday shopping season that worsened the decay that has been eroding Gap’s sales since the spring of 2004.

While the company said it was encouraged by the brand’s initial performance, a review revealed it wasn’t showing enough potential to deliver an acceptable long-term return on investment.

South Street Seaport may be demolished.

The shopping mall at the South Street Seaport will probably be razed to make way for a retail, residential, and open-space development.

A spokeswoman for the property’s leaseholder tells AM New York that the three-story Pier 17 shopping mall will likely be demolished.

Another person familiar with General Growth Properties’ plan tells the paper they’re considering a tall building for the site, a ferry landing, and relocating the landmark Tin Building at the former Fulton Fish Market.

The rest of the pier would be left as open space.

The plans will be discussed for the first time on Monday when General Growth meets with Community Board 1.

• The big story of the day is Whole Foods’ acquisition Wild Oats. (Any one to hazard a guess as to how many times the phrase “organic growth” will get thrown around in describing the deal?)
• Multichannel Merchant reports on a new Home Depot store-within-store concept.
• And J.C. Penney, the big success story in the mid-market department store range in recent years, had some problems in the fourth quarter.

Mall security guards may have played no role in stopping the mall shooting that occurred in Utah last week, but there is one “crime” they’re prosecuting, at least at the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, Pa.: breastfeeding.

REPORTER: So Leigh says she found a quiet spot on a bench facing a tree in the center of the court - her husband and daughter sitting next to her.

Leigh: I had my stroller sitting in front of me. I was breastfeeding quietly and nobody seemed to mind.

REPORTER: But apparently - someone did. Leigh says she was approached by a security guard who, after receiving a complaint - asked her to cover up.

Tony Bellini: I think my wife would be more embarrassed than anybody else if she were showing excess skin.

REPORTER: The Bellinis say the situation escalated and when Leigh wouldn’t follow the guard’s orders - the Bellinis say the guard threatened to call police and ban them from the mall.

The Unique Real Estate Blog offers tips for investing in shopping centers in California.

So the key is to identify properties with below market rents and a low price per square foot. These properties will provide you with upside potentials. However, the market rents often have a wide range. For example retail space in San Jose commands between $2-5/SF a month. It’s not easy to determine if the tenants of the property pay below market rent. more

Forest City Ratner Cos. is set to begin construction on the controversial Atlantic Yards project.

Construction crews were expected to take the first steps today toward building the huge Atlantic Yards project near downtown Brooklyn, according to an aide to Bruce C. Ratner, the developer. The first stages of the work will involve subcontractors removing contamination from a bus depot, then demolishing that structure. Forest City Ratner Companies will build a temporary Long Island Rail Road yard in its place, so that a giant platform can be built above the permanent rail yard to support much of the $4 billion development. The city and state approved the project despite heated opposition from residents who said it would overwhelmingly congest the local streets and transit system. The development will include thousands of apartments, commercial buildings, a hotel and an arena for the Nets, the basketball team Mr. Ratner owns.