BALTIMORE-Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. may not be in the market as often as, say, a Kimco Realty or any one of the health care REITs, but when it does swoop down on a property it is an asset with clout. Such is the case now with the New York City-based retail property investor, which reportedly is in the process of acquiring Harborplace retail center here, a 149,066-square foot asset.
Specifically, according to the Wall Street Journal, the company is acquiring a long-term lease on the property from General Growith Properties. The pricing was not revealed. Ashkenazy did not return a call to GlobeSt.com in time for publication.
The company counts some marquee names in its portfolio. In the DC area, it owns Union Station. In New York City, 650 Madison Ave. is among its holdings. Last year it snapped up Boston's Fanueil Hall Marketplace-again from General Growth Properties.
Separately, Reis released statistics earlier this month that suggests a selective approach to retail may be best. The brief flurry of activity earlier this year that suggested retail was headed for a full-fledged recovery has stalled.
Recent stats show the vacancy rate of U.S. neighborhood and community shopping centers—which Harborplace clearly is now—remained at 10.8% for the third quarter. Regional and super-regional retail centers posted better performance, Reis said, with the vacancy rate dropping to 8.7%. "Overall the improvement in the mall subsector is not accelerating, but it is not faltering either," the company said in the release.
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Erika Morphy
Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.
