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PRINCETON, NJ-Can Do Fitness, a New Jersey-based chain, and its affiliate Koi Spa have leased 60,000 sf at Princeton Forrestal Center here. The fitness center and spa will anchor one end of the MXD's 175,000-sf retail component in space that, until now, has been occupied by the project's food court.

The 720,000-sf Princeton Forrestal Village was acquired by the Gale Co. of Florham Park, NJ, in 2003 and the new owner launched an overhaul of the property's retail component. Gale hired Levin Management Co. of North Plainfield, NJ in early 2004 to handle the re-leasing of the retail. The food court's space will be expanded and rebuilt to accommodate Can Do and Koi Spa.

"We have worked to draft the new retail plan," says Matthew Harding, president and COO of Levin Management. "We have begun to relocate non-retail tenants and we are also repositioning the retail tenant base, which has been primarily outlet operators, to fit our new merchandising program."

"Our existing clubs in Wayne, Short Hills and Edgewater [NJ] are all located in well-populated areas with household incomes far above the norm," says Stuart Polevoy, CEO of Can Do and Koi Spa. "It was only natural, when searching for a location for our fourth facility, that we were attracted to the Princeton area."

The food court, meanwhile, will be moved to a newly constructed location elsewhere in the complex. "Maintaining the food court was an important part of our repositioning and merchandising plan," says Frederic Knapp, Gale's vice president of asset and property management. "Restaurants traditionally do well at the property, in part because of the corporate offices in the area."

"With preliminary site plan approval expected, we are proposing two new pad-site restaurants, each totaling 8,000 sf, to be added to the property," Harding says. "We have already entertained several potential operators."

In the Can Do and Koi Spa transaction, the tenant was represented by Mike Maroon of the Acclaim Group. Ethan Goldsmith and Stanley Bernstein of Levin Management represented Gale. The terms were not released.

Instant Insights /

Fitness Chain Takes 60,000 SF at Princeton Forrestal Center

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