Urstadt Biddle Acquires Interest in Two LI Retail Properties

RIVERHEAD, NY-Two wholly owned subsidiaries of Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc. of Greenwich, CT have acquired a 50% interest in two adjacent retail properties here from Lerner Properties LLC for a combined price of $14.1 million.

Urstadt Biddle is now a 50% owner of Gateway Plaza, a more than 20-acre parcel with a 194,309-square-foot shopping center anchored by a brand-new 167,309-square-foot Walmart store and a nearly completed 27,000 square foot freestanding retail building. UBP's 50% interest in Gateway Plaza was purchased for $12.4 million, and UBP and Lerner Properties refinanced the property at closing with a $14-million first mortgage from Security Life of Denver Insurance Company.

Lerner also sold the 50% interest in its Applebee's Plaza to Urstadt Biddle. The two-acre parcel contains an existing 5,363-square-foot Applebee's restaurant and an undeveloped pad site with a buildable allowance of 4,500 square feet. UBP's 50% interest in Applebee's Plaza was purchased for $1.7 million, and the property is subject to existing mortgage financing in the amount of $1.17 million, which matures in January 2019.

Willing Biddle, CEO of Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., says of its latest acquisitions, "We are very happy to have been able to invest in these very well-located regional retail properties and to be co-owners with Lerner Properties. There is a great deal of interest from prospective tenants in the 27,000-square-fot building under construction next to Walmart, and we and our co-owner expect to have it leased within six months. We also are working to lease the available pad next to Applebee's and hope to have a deal completed in the near future. We think that these acquisitions will provide a beachhead for more opportunities for our company in the Long Island market."