Those plans were revealed by Adam Ifshin, president of DLC Management, who was a guest speaker at the Feb. 13 meeting of the Westchester County Board of Realtors' Commercial Investment Division. Ifshin would not divulge the specific properties the firm intends to acquire, but said that all of the transactions were expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2003.

DLC Management currently owns approximately 7.1 million sf of retail space in 19 states.

Recently, the firm acquired the 239,308-sf Mount Clare Shopping Center in Baltimore, Md., and the Old Towne Plaza, a 288,000-sf strip regional power center in Ballwin, Mo.

In the Westchester County area, some of DLC Management's holdings include: the Spring Valley Marketplace in Rockland County; the Beach Shopping Center in Peekskill (Westchester County); the Mid-Valley Mall in Newburgh (Orange County); Imperial Plaza in Dutchess County and Mahopac Village Center in Putnam County. The firm also owns a number of shopping centers in lower Connecticut.

At the CID session, Ifshin discussed the strength and weaknesses of the Westchester County retail market.

"I think that Westchester is a fascinating place from a retail perspective and there are a number of reasons," he said. Ifshin, whose firm has holdings as far west as Seattle and south as Fort Meyers, Fla., said that when based on the affluent demographics Westchester County possesses, "Westchester is easily the most under-stored retail market, given the number of dollars that are there to spend, in the entire country."

Specifically, he noted that Westchester, and particularly Northern Westchester, is underserved in the "bread and butter" retail sector (supermarkets, discount chains, pet food, children's apparel, sporting goods, etc.).

Ifshin noted that six years ago, there was just one supermarket over 50,000 sf serving Northern Westchester and Southern Putnam counties. Today, there are five major supermarkets in the area and DLC is building the sixth in Peekskill.

He said that any other market in the U.S. that had similar demographics to Westchester and Putnam would have 10 to 15 supermarkets servicing area residents.

Ifshin said that due to current zoning regulations that limit retail development and anticipated changes that will be made in several municipal master plans in Northern Westchester in the next 10 years, he does not expect any new supermarket to be built in the area in the foreseeable future.

He added that Northern Westchester has a shortage of discount-oriented retail as well. In fact, there are just two discount stores currently operating – a Wal-Mart and a Kmart location that service Northern Westchester and Southern Putnam counties. While, Target may be successful in trying to develop a store in Mount Kisco in the near future, Ifshin said that he doubts any other major discount chain will be able to obtain the necessary approvals to build in that area.