BRYN MAWR, PA-WP Realty has obtained $150 million to close on its fourth private commercial real estate fund since Bryan Weingarten, CEO, founded the locally based company in 1998. He tells GlobeSt.com, "we generally leverage at three to one," which positions his firm to spend about $600 million "over the next two to three years.

"It's a good time to raise money, but our goal is not to raise the most money, but have a fund sized to put the money to good use." One third, or $50 million of the fund, came from Boston-based Bay North Capital, formerly Harvard Private Capital Realty Inc., and the remainder is from high net worth individuals.

Good use, according to Weingarten, is shopping centers from Maine to Virginia that are ripe for redevelopment. The fund's opening acquisition is East End Centre, a 320,000-sf asset in Wilkes-Barre Scranton. WP acquired it from a subsidiary of Lehman Brothers for about $10 million, Weingarten says. It was built in two phases in 1987 and 1996, and is anchored by a 50,000-sf Price Chopper with such additional tenants as Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Old Country Buffet and Red Lobster.

Weingarten says it's about 50% leased. "There's a vacant Ames and Phar-Mor, two big boxes representing about half the center. We plan to build Price Chopper a new store and bring in either big boxes that want to enter the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area or smaller anchors looking to expand." Rent rate for a big box, he says, is in the $10-per-sf to $12-per-sf range. WP recently acquired a center near this one in Edwardsville and is adding a new Lowe's. "It's a growing area."

Next week, WP plans to invest another approximately $16.2 million from the fund to acquire a 210,000-sf shopping center in Derry, NH from a private partnership based in Connecticut. "This is vintage 1980s, anchored by a Shaws department store and about 70% leased," Weingarten says. "These are exactly the kinds of assets we're looking for –ones that we can redevelop, add value to and lease up."