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ENOLA, PA-Cedar Shopping Centers' appetite for Pennsylvania retail has increased again. The Port Washington, NY-based REIT signed an agreement to buy the 109,844-sf Pennsboro Commons Shopping Center here for just under $17.8 million or about $162 per sf.

Leo Ullman, Cedar president, tells GlobeSt.com the seller is a private developer in the area, "and we handled the transaction directly with the seller." The property was built in 1999, according to Ullman, and is 95% leased and anchored by a 66,224-sf Giant supermarket with a lease that extends to 2019, exclusive of options. The property is unencumbered.

Initial funding will come from Cedar's secured revolving credit facility, and the center will become a collateralized property for the credit facility. This acquisition follows Cedar's Aug. 25, $11-million purchase of 183,000-sf Point at Carlisle Plaza in Carlisle.

Ullman also confirmed that Cedar's $63.1-million redevelopment pipeline encompassing seven Pennsylvania assets is "on track," and completion is expected by third-quarter 2007. "We've already used a pretty good chunk of the investment."

The majority, approximately $33 million, is for de-malling and repositioning of Camp Hill Shopping Center in Camp Hill. "We will deliver the Giant supermarket expansion next week," Ullman says. An orthopedist center will follow in a few months, "leaving only a new LA Fitness unit, once Giant moves to its new space."

Meadows Marketplace in Hershey is adding the $8.5-million ground-up development of a 65,000-sf Giant supermarket, which Ullman expects to see open this October. A majority of the other five Pennsylvania properties are also expanding their supermarket--in most cases Giant--anchors. In addition to a 31,000-sf supermarket expansion at Halifax Plaza in Halifax, Cedar acquired an adjacent parcel. "It can accommodate up to an additional 71,000 sf," Ullman says, but there are no immediate plans for the expansion.

At the same time Cedar agreed to buy Pennsboro Commons, it announced that it has refinanced Pine Groves Plaza Center in Pemberton Township, NJ. The $6.2-million new first-mortgage is for 10 years at a fixed rate of 4.98% with 30-year amortization. It replaced existing interim first-mortgage financing at 6.24%.

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For $18M, Pennsboro Commons Joins Cedar's Pennsylvania Portfolio

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