Colonial Commons was completed in 1991 and is located on 37 acres at the intersection of Route 22 and Devonshire Road here. It is currently 93% leased. A 68,000-sf Giant Foods and a 56,000-sf Dick's Sporting Goods are anchors. Other tenants with significant space include Linens 'n Things with 31,000 sf, Ross Dress for Less with 30,000 sf, Marshall's with 27,000 sf, TJ Maxx with 25,000 sf, Ben Franklin with 26,000 sf and Office Max with 24,000 sf.

The price, about $126.51 per sf, including the leasehold space, is a significant increase over the price paid little more than a year ago by Mt. Laurel, NJ-based Freedman & Co., which acquired it from Atlanta-based Ronus Properties for $28 million, or about $64 per sf. At that time, the property was 74% leased, and among the vacancies was a former 98,100-sf Montgomery Ward unit.

The investment sales division of Conshohocken, PA-based Fameco Real Estate represented Freedman in the transaction. John Fasciano, senior partner, says his firm also represented Freedman when it purchased the property in November 2002. Since then, Fameco filled vacancies totaling more than 200,000 sf in the center. "It was a team effort," he says, crediting Freedman and A&E Construction with store build outs, which were also responsible for repositioning the property as a dominant center here and accounting for a near doubling of its value.

The acquisition expands Heritage's presence in the mid-Atlantic region, which, according to Robert G. Prendergast, SVP and COO, puts the REIT "in a stronger position to take advantage of operational synergies within our portfolio." Anchor Giant Food, the top grocer in the center's marketplace and one with which Heritage has an existing relationship, "made this acquisition especially attractive to us," he adds.

Citing the center's "impressive roster of tenants," Thomas C. Prendergast, chairman and CEO of Heritage, says, "With this acquisition, we continue to execute our long-term core strategy of adding to our portfolio high quality, grocer-anchored shopping centers with multiple retail anchors."

As of March 31, Heritage's shopping center portfolio encompassed 162 centers with an aggregate 32.7 million sf in 29 states. Of that space, 27.5 million sf is company-owned space. At the end of first-quarter this year, Heritage's shopping center portfolio was 91.2% leased.