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HARRISBURG, Pa. (PRNewswire) - Feldman Equities, Inc. in a joint venture with Lubert-Adler Partners, has acquired the 840,000 square-foot Harrisburg East Mall in Harrisburg, PA from The Prudential Insurance Company. Concurrent with the acquisition, Feldman Equities is also announcing the signing of two major anchor tenant leases and a long term commitment from a third anchor tenant.
The new tenants include Bass Pro Shops, which has signed a long term lease for the store that is currently occupied by Lord & Taylor. Bass Pro Shops intends to extensively renovate and expand the store and will convert it into a spectacular super store consisting of approximately 200,000 square feet specializing in fishing, hunting, camping and boating products. Excluding their Flagship store in Springfield, MO, the Harrisburg store is expected to be the largest Bass Pro Shops store in the nation..
Boscovs has signed a long-term lease for former JCPenney store in the mall. Boscovs intends to renovate and expand the store and has leased approximately 185,000 square feet. This will be the 41st store in Boscov's rapidly growing chain, and the 3rd in the Harrisburg area.
In addition, Hecht's Department store, which is an existing tenant, has made a long term commitment to the mall. Hechts is a division of the May Company.
Mr. Feldman gained a national reputation as a property turnaround specialist when he was the Chairman and CEO of the publicly traded Tower Realty Trust, Inc. Mr. Feldman's present company, Feldman Equities, Inc. recently acquired the Foothills Mall in Tucson, AZ and engineered a remarkable expansion and renovation that saw the development of over 18 million dollars in improvements.
In addition to the massive interior upgrades that will be made to the interior of the two new anchor stores, Feldman Equities is planning a major upgrade to the following exterior areas of the mall: a) the exterior façade of the mall fronting on Paxton Street will be completely renovated, (b) the common area entrances to the mall will be rebuilt and renovated, (c) the mall's common area lighting will be increased, (d) the mall's entire parking lot will be resurfaced and re-striped and (e) the mall's signage will be significantly upgraded.
Bass Pro Shops is most unusual among retailers because many of it shoppers travel from out of state and from long distances. Because of this fact, Bass Pro Shops generates a great deal of local, hotel, motel and restaurant use. Over 40% of their customers drive an hour or more to get to their store and an unusually high percentage of Bass Pro Shops customers stay overnight at nearby hotels and motels to shop at the store. The typical Bass Pro Shops store generates over 3,000,000 visitors per annum.
Harrisburg East Mall is located at the intersection of I-83 and Paxton Street, three miles east of the Harrisburg, PA central business district. It is a two-level enclosed regional mall consisting of 838,232 square feet of current retail space with a significant future expansion capability. The Mall offers convenient access to the entire Harrisburg market and the State Capital Region via its nearly immediate proximity to I-81, I-83 and I-283. The property is currently 86% occupied and has several mall and out parcel development opportunities for a large user such as an arcade, department store, entertainment theme restaurant or multiplex theater.
"We are confident that Harrisburg East will be successful due to the incredible draw of its anchor tenants combined with a solid base of specialty retailers," said Mr. Feldman, who's hands-on approach to turning around distressed assets, combined with a deep bricks-and-mortar background, have earned his firm a national reputation with investors for being ahead of the market and for producing above average returns.
Feldman Equities is the modern business entity that encompasses a century of success in commercial real estate development, management and ownership throughout the United States. In the last 25 years, Larry Feldman and his father Edward Feldman, together with their partners Jim Bourg and Scott Jensen, have developed or acquired over 11 million square feet of office and retail properties with an aggregate value in excess of $2 billion. Feldman Equities is a standout, recognized for its hands-on approach to turning around distressed assets. Today, Feldman Equities owns a portfolio of office and retail properties and land for development in Arizona, Pennsylvania and Florida and is keenly poised for a period of strong asset growth.
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