Shopping Center Success with Old and New Tenants

BEL AIR, MD-The nearly 450,000-sf Baltimore area-based community shopping center known as Festival at Bel Air has gotten an expanded commitment from one retailer and a new commitment form another. Drugstore chain Eckerd will more than double its current 7,000-sf store to 14,400 sf, and home furnishings shop the Bombay Co. will open its doors in the 7,000-sf space that now belongs to Eckerd. Construction of Eckerd’s new and larger locale gets underway this month, and is scheduled for completion in early 2004. Leasing terms for the two retailers have not been released, but as per the NAI 2003 Real Estate Planning Guide, average effective rents for suburban Baltimore shopping centers range from $15 to $22 per sf.

“The drugstore’s expansion and relocation is evidence of the success retailers enjoy at our shopping center,” says Bob Schwenger, VP of JBG Rosenfeld Retail, the company that owns and leases the retail center. “The entrance of a higher-end retailer like Bombay is in keeping with our ultimate goal to raise the level of tenancies at this property.” Other tenants at Festival include anchors KB Toy Works, Klein’s Supermarket, Kohl’s, Marshall’s, and the RoomStore Furniture.