STOW, MA-Linear Retail Properties has completed its sixth acquisition in eighteen months, adding a grocery-anchored retail asset to its portfolio in a deal that closed late last week. Linear picked up the fully leased 119,000-sf Stow Shopping Center, anchored by Shaw's Supermarket, from Stow Trust for $12.3 million.
"It was a long process, but we hung in there while we worked to resolve some complications," William J. Beckeman, president and CEO for Linear, tells GlobeSt.com. "There were a lot of groups that wanted to purchase this property. We spent well."
Steve Steinberg, trustee of Stow Trust, echoes that sentiment. "We've had a lot of brokers and investors approach us about buying the (property) in recent years," he says in a statement. "We ultimately decided to sell to Linear because they offered us a strong price (and) demonstrated uncommon flexibility in dealing with our issues as sellers. I think they will be successful."
Robert Shannon of the Shannon Co. represented Linear in the transaction, and financing was provided by Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada. Joseph Hegenbart of Northmarq Capital provided mortgage brokerage services in restructuring an existing mortgage with Sun Life on the property.
In addition to Shaw's, other tenants in the center include Ace Hardware, Global Fitness, Radio Shack, Dunkin Donuts, Papa Gino's, Citizens Bank and others. The shopping center is the first grocery-anchored property to be added to the Linear roster, and represents their largest cash outlay to date. They have focused primarily on convenience-oriented retail centers, and their current portfolio also includes locations in Dedham, Dracut, Danvers, Burlington and Fall River.
Linear has no intention of slowing the pace and will be adding other properties to their portfolio soon, according to Aubrey Cannuscio, senior VP of acquisitions for the firm. "We have very aggressive acquisition plans and hope to purchase many more retail properties with similar attributes in the coming months."
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