Feldman Signs 60,000-SF Lease With Regal Cinemas

ALBANY-In the first half of 2006 work will begin on what mall officials say will be a 10-story, 14-screen Regal Cinemas at the Colonie Center here. Feldman Mall Properties Inc. has signed a lease for approximately 60,000 sf with Regal Cinemas, Inc. for a new 2,800-seat theater that will be built atop the mall. The cinema will also feature a skylight that will be visible along Interstate 87.

Larry Feldman, chairman and CEO of Feldman Mall, says that the firm is also very close to signing leases totaling more than 60,000 sf with two national retailers and also expects to sign deals shortly with two major restaurant tenants. He termed all those deals as "imminent."

"Feldman Mall Properties is working diligently to transform Colonie Center into the most upscale mall in the capital region," Feldman says. "Therefore partnering with Regal Entertainment Group, the largest motion picture exhibitor in the world, was a top priority for FMP. Regal Cinemas will be one of the key cornerstones of our redevelopment at Colonie Center and we have several more very exciting announcements for the mall just around the corner."

The major construction component of the ongoing $50-million redevelopment of the Colonie Center, should be complete by the late summer of 2006, he adds. Feldman says that the addition of the Regal Cinemas, combined with the pending tenant signings and the redevelopment program will transform the Colonie Center into a class A retail property that will become the "downtown entertainment destination for the Albany region."

Currently, sales at Colonie Center are nearly $300 per sf, with combined anchor-tenant sales totaling over $160 million per year, Feldman Properties officials note. It is expected that the new incoming tenants at Colonie, combined with a major renovation of the mall, will translate into higher shop sales and higher occupancy, they say.