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Harvard Chabad Buys Building in Cambridge //APEX Athletics Site in Peabody is Sold //New Phase for N. Andover Industrial/Flex Bldg //Bay State Water Works Keeps It In the Family //PSI Buys Cohasset Parcel for Self-Storage // Harvard Chabad Buys Building in Cambridge //APEX Athletics Site in Peabody is Sold //New Phase for N. Andover Industrial/Flex Bldg //Bay State Water Works Keeps It In the Family //PSI Buys Cohasset Parcel for Self-Storage // Harvard Chabad Buys Building in Cambridge //APEX Athletics Site in Peabody is Sold //New Phase for N. Andover Industrial/Flex Bldg //Bay State Water Works Keeps It In the Family //PSI Buys Cohasset Parcel for Self-Storage //

Linear Retail Close on $8M RI Buy as New England Portfolio Continues 2011 Expansion

May 09, 2011 — By Joe Clements

EAST GREENWICH, RI—Linear Retail Properties is making another foray into the Ocean State for its ever-growing fiefdom of convenience-oriented retail, this time committing to purchase a Route One strip center being marketed by Cushman & Wakefield at a price estimated to be in the $8 million range. The 41,000-sf East Greenwich Commons at 555 Main St. is anchored by a CVS Pharmacy, and also counts the likes of Coldwell Banker Residential, Starbucks and Webster Bank on its tenant roster.

“I like that real estate a lot,” C&W Executive Director Geoffrey Millerd says this week, citing favorable frontage along Route One and an established in-fill retail site that underwent an extensive upgrade in 2002. “Very good shape,” relays Millerd, who declined to provide specifics on the potential sales price or identify the buyers. Linear officials did not respond to inquiries as of press deadline, but one source maintains the deal is on track to close by month’s end. “The money is hard,” insists that source.

While concentrated in Massachusetts, Linear’s portfolio already counts a trio of Rhode Island assets, one in Smithfield and two in Warwick, a city just north of the East Greenwich target. The Burlington-based firm overall has assembled 56 properties valued in excess of $300 million since founder William J. Beckeman launched the investment platform in 2003, backed by funding from Principal Financial.

On the East Greenwich property, CVS is in a long-term lease that extends past 2020, although Millerd would not provide terms of that arrangement or outline the lease elements of other tenants. At 10,000 sf, the CVS is more modest than modern prototypes, but Millerd says the drug store chain actually declined when given an opportunity to expand. “They are very happy with it,” he says of the tenant, predicting the unit is likely to remain in place for an extended period. Featuring a drive-through pharmacy window, the CVS is in one of two structures on the parcel, a property that is around the corner from Goddard Memorial State Park and close to Narragansett Bay. East Greenwich is ranked as one of Rhode Island’s wealthiest communities, sporting an average annual household income of $92,464 in a three-mile radius. The East Greenwich Commons had a daily average traffic count in excess of 18,000 vehicles.

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