JESSUP, MD-In a transaction valued at a reported $4.5 million, Atlantic Realty Cos. has acquired Eastgate Shopping Center, a two-structure retail property accounting for a total of 172,000 sf. Atlantic will submit the center to a $9 million renovation--covering everything from façade changes to electrical systems upgrades--that will result in its conversion to a commercial condominium property for sale or lease to the retail/service market.

Construction is scheduled to get underway this May and will wrap up sometime during the fourth quarter of this year. The finished product will be renamed Columbia East Marketplace.

Situated on a prominent 14-acre corner parcel off I-95, Eastgate was originally developed as Jessup Mall in 1983. The shopping center was once home to the likes of Burlington Coat Factory, but since 2000, the property--which consists of a 156,000 structure and a 16,000 structure--has been mostly vacant.

But the days of empty floors are about to change, Atlantic Realty suggests. "We looked at the property on its merits relative to its ability to function in the marketplace and realized that it provides a tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurially-owned businesses to purchase their own real estate," Atlantic Realty president David A. Ross tells GlobeSt.com. "With today's financing market being the way it is, we're getting a lot of attention."