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REGENCY CENTERS EXPANDS INTO MID-ATLANTIC REGION

Regency Centers has expanded into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions, developing three grocery-anchored neighborhood centers in Virginia, Delaware and New Jersey. By late this year, Jacksonville, Fla.-based Regency Centers hopes to complete ground-up development on Cheshire Station, a 104,974-square-foot project in Dale City, Va., to be anchored by Safeway and Petco; and Ashburn (Va.) Farm Market Center, a 92,691-square-foot center, to be anchored by Giant Food Stores. Regency purchased the land for the two developments in third-quarter 2000 but did not reveal the purchase price. Echelon Village, an 88,867-square-foot center in Voorhees, N.J., was purchased from E.V. Plaza in June 2000. The redevelopment project should be completed by the end of September, and Genuardi’s Family Markets should anchor the center, according to the company. Regency first expanded into the Mid-Atlantic region in 1995, when it purchased the Pike Creek center in Wilmington, Del. Now the REIT says it is looking to purchase more centers as part of its expansion effort in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic areas.

MARYLAND MALL GETS INFUSION OF NEW MANAGEMENT TALENT

Strategic Resources Corp., a New York City-based investment advisor and fund manager, has hired a new team of mall leasing specialists in an effort to reinvigorate the TownMall of Westminster, Md. Late last year, Strategic Resources hired Eileen Stoner as the mall’s leasing and project manager, and contracted with two consultants: Baltimore-based The Daniel Group and G. Richard Hanor, president of Boca Raton, Fla.-based G. Richard Hanor Inc. With almost 20 years of leasing experience, Stoner joins SRC from The Mills Corp., where she was a senior leasing executive. At SRC, she will coordinate merchant leasing and construction. Hanor will negotiate anchor tenant agreements for the mall, along with The Daniel Group, which specializes in leasing regional malls. SRC represents the Phoenix Four, an offshore real estate investment fund that owns TownMall.

UNIVERSITY TOWN CENTER COMING TO HYATTSVILLE, MD.

Prince George’s Metro Center, which owns the self-titled office complex in Hyattsville, Md., is planning a mixed-use expansion that will include up to 250,000 square feet of retail space. To be called University Town Center — because of its location near the University of Maryland — the center’s focal point will be the “Town Square,” which will include an ice skating rink, cafes and specialty retail stores. The expansion will also include up to 1.6 million square feet of new office space in three new buildings, up to 1,800 residential apartment units, and two structured parking garages. Officials at Prince George’s Metro Center are attempting to prelease the retail space. Anchor possibilities for the retail component include a cinema and a small-to-medium size box store.

BETHESDA CORNER GETTING $3.5 MILLION RENOVATION

Tyson’s Corner, Va.-based Atlantic Realty Cos., as of press time, was expected to have completed its $3.5 million renovation of the Bethesda Corner specialty retail center. The project was expected to have been completed last month, featuring a new facade, storefronts and canopies. Atlantic officials said an estimated 60,000 square feet of retail space is devoted to upscale home furnishings, design and accessories. New York City-based Maurice Villency, the upscale furniture retailer, will anchor the revamped Bethesda Corner, along with Chevy Chase, Md.-based Parvizian Masterpieces, which sells oriental rugs and finely crafted furniture. The Maurice Villency store is expected to be the retailer’s first outside the New York City metropolitan area, and should open in May.

BOOKS-A-MILLION TAKES OVER CROWN BOOKS LEASES

Books-a-Million, Birmingham, Ala., has bought the inventory and assumed the leases on 19 bookstores operated by Landover, Md.-based Crown Books Corp. Crown Books, the largest discount book retailer in the United States, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. Crown Books has 90 stores located in five major metropolitan areas: Washington, D.C.; Chicago; San Francisco; Los Angeles; and San Diego.

DILLARD’S TO ANCHOR TAUBMAN’S STONY POINT IN RICHMOND, VA.

Bloomfield Hills, Mich.-based Taubman Centers reported that Dillard’s will anchor the Stony Point open-air “fashion park” it is building in south Richmond, Va. Dillard’s will occupy a 204,000-square-foot space at the center, which is scheduled to open in the spring of 2003 at a site west of Chippenham Parkway and south of the James River. Stony Point will feature about 500,000 square feet of upscale retail. An earlier proposal called for 1.2 million square feet of retail, but the revised plan involves a smaller retail component built alongside residential and office space. Dillard’s, which operates 342 stores in 29 states, also is planning a store in another area of the Richmond market, at the proposed Short Pump Town Center, in Henrico County.

SECURITY STATION OPENS

Lutherville, Md.-based Mid-Atlantic Realty Trust has opened its Security Station Shopping Center in Baltimore. The $11.5 million center, anchored by a 58,000-square-foot Super Fresh supermarket and occupied by five other stores, sits next to Security Square Mall. It is located at the intersection of Rolling Road and Security Boulevard.

FIRST WASHINGTON REALTY TRUST SOLD TO U.S. RETAIL AFFILIATES

First Washington Realty Trust, a shopping center REIT, has been sold to affiliates of U.S. Retail Partners, a joint venture of the California Public Employees Retirement System and National Retail Partners. First Washington, Bethesda, Md., owns and operates 63 neighborhood shopping centers throughout the Mid-Atlantic states and the greater Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. California Public Employees Retirement System, with assets exceeding $165 billion, is the largest public pension fund in the United States.

FOOTBRIDGE PART OF REVITALIZATION PLAN FOR PEMBROKE MALL

A footbridge linking Pembroke Mall, Virginia Beach, Va., with the city’s redeveloped town center is one of several proposals under consideration for a planned revitalization of the 35-year-old mall. The local owners of the 650,000-square-foot mall (Pembroke Square Associates) have brought in Jones Lang LaSalle to lease the mall, and details of a new set of tenants and a redevelopment plan are expected to be announced this year. The footbridge would cross the eight-lane Virginia Beach Boulevard, which separates the mall and the town center, where the city is building offices, stores, a hotel and a parking garage.

SHORT PUMP TOWN CENTER HITS TWO MAJOR SNAGS

The under-construction Short Pump Town Center, Richmond, Va., suffered two separate setbacks in February. A Richmond judge threw out a $22 million tax bond plan for the $236 million project, ruling that Henrico County’s Community Development Authority’s bond plan was illegal. Two days earlier, planned fashion anchor Nordstrom, Seattle, delayed its opening at the center until 2003. Circuit Judge Randall G. Johnson wrote in his opinion that the issuing of bonds to help fund infrastructure for the regional mall was akin to issuing bonds to help a home owner build a garage. The project developers, Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises and local developer Thomas Pruitt, said they plan to move ahead with the center and are exploring other options for raising the funds needed for the site work. The center’s developers also said the Nordstrom delay in no way slows down the project. The three other anchors — Lord & Taylor, Hecht’s and Dillard’s — are still on board for a Sept. 27, 2002 opening.

MILLS CORP. GETS FINANCING FOR POTOMAC AND GURNEE PROJECTS

The Mills Corp. has received $355 million in nonrecourse permanent financing for its Potomac (Md.) Mills and Gurnee (Ill.) Mills properties from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. The deal netted the Arlington, Va.-based company an additional $68 million in capital. The 10-year loan is the first of several capital transactions Mills is undertaking to fund its near-term development, provide reserve liquidity, replace variable rate debt with fixed-rate mortgages and extend the weighted average maturity of its debt. The company anticipates raising additional equity of up to $75 million in corporate preferred equity or project level financing from joint venture partners, which are anticipated to take care of its financing needs through next year for Discover Mills, Colorado Mills, Vaughn Mills, Missouri Mills and the retail portion of Meadowland Mills.

 

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