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New Phase for N. Andover Industrial/Flex Bldg //Bay State Water Works Keeps It In the Family //PSI Buys Cohasset Parcel for Self-Storage //Ferncroft CC in Middleton Has New Owner //Fig City Parcels to Become Mixed-Income Apts // New Phase for N. Andover Industrial/Flex Bldg //Bay State Water Works Keeps It In the Family //PSI Buys Cohasset Parcel for Self-Storage //Ferncroft CC in Middleton Has New Owner //Fig City Parcels to Become Mixed-Income Apts // New Phase for N. Andover Industrial/Flex Bldg //Bay State Water Works Keeps It In the Family //PSI Buys Cohasset Parcel for Self-Storage //Ferncroft CC in Middleton Has New Owner //Fig City Parcels to Become Mixed-Income Apts //

Linear Retail Revs Up Buying Spree Via $6.7Million Plaza

November 22, 2010 — By Joe Clements

CHELMSFORD, MA—A 24,450-sf shopping center strategically located at the Drum Hill Rotary has sold for $6.7 million to Linear Retail Properties of Burlington. The acquisition of Chelmsford Plaza is the 55th New England purchase by Linear as part of a $300 million investment fund targeting convenience-oriented retail, a platform that is concentrated in Greater Boston but extends south to Rhode Island.

The Merrimack Valley is well-represented in Linear’s portfolio. Besides centers across the border in New Hampshire, Linear owns retail assets in Dracut, Haverhill, Lawrence and Newburyport. Just last month, the firm acquired a free-standing Rite Aid in Westford, paying $3.4 million for that building, as previously relayed in The Real Reporter.

With parking for 104 vehicles on the 1.9-acre parcel, Chelmsford Plaza features a Starbucks, Supercuts and UPS among its national roster of tenants, and this summer welcomed a Little Caesar’s Pizza restaurant. Abutting retailers include Cumberland Farms, Dunkin’ Donuts, Sears and TD Bank. The site witnesses an average traffic count of 34,000 pass by daily on Drum Hill Road, and is in a demographic of 181,000 people in a five-mile radius.

The sellers are Eric S. Katz and Joanne R. Katz, whose family ownership in Chelmsford Plaza dates to its construction in the 1960s. “We have been talking to them a long time,” relays Linear President William J. Beckeman in acknowledging the trade. Only one slot of 2,400 sf remains in the center, whose star-studded national lineup is buttressed by a variety of local services, including a dental clinic and fitness center.

Coming on the heels of the Westford purchase, Linear acquisitions chief Aubrey Cannuscio concurs that the firm will step up its acquisition pace in 2011 after pulling in the reins during 2009, with hopes to secure another property by year’s end. Founded by Beckeman in 2003, Linear Retail Properties is backed by Principal Enterprise Capital, a subsidiary of Principal Financial Group

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