HANOVER TWP., PA-Port Washington, NY-based Cedar Shopping Centers broke from is practice of acquiring and redeveloping grocery-anchored shopping centers with its purchase of a 16-acre parcel here near Hershey for construction of a shopping center of between 92,000 sf and 97,000 sf. Simultaneous with the land purchase, Giant Food inked a lease for a 65,300-sf Giant supermarket anchor.

The Giant lease for 20 years with options to renew is subject to approval from its Netherlands-based parent. The approval is anticipated on or about Nov. 1. Cedar paid $1.9 million, or about $118,750 an acre, for the land and projects the cost of the center, including land acquisition and construction, at $10 million. Funding is from Cedar's revolving credit facility.

Groundbreaking is scheduled before the end of this year, and completion is set for August 2005. Discussions with potential additional tenants, including tenants in other Cedar properties, are under way.

"While the focus of our company has been on redevelopment, rather than ground-up development," says Leo Ullman, CEO of Cedar, "the purchase of this site and the opportunity to accommodate a new Giant supermarket at this property represents an extraordinary opportunity for us. We expect this project to be highly accretive and add substantial value to our portfolio." The REIT currently owns and operates 28 shopping centers aggregating about 4.3 million sf in Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey and Connecticut.