Furniture Seller Filling Big Hole at Gresham Square

GRESHAM, OR-JR Furniture is opening its first store in the Portland market at Gresham Center, a 125,000-sf retail center at the corner of Burnside and Eastman Parkway. The Vancouver, BC-based chain has signed a 10-year lease for 38,000 sf and will be co-anchoring the development with OfficeMax. The owner of Gresham Square is a partnership put together by Falcon Real Estate. The partnership acquired the property in a court-ordered sale in July 2003. The property was formerly owned by Capital Consultants and managed by Rembold Properties.Tim Puhek of Falcon Real Estate tells GlobeSt.com that when the new owners acquired the property it was 40% vacant. The property has since been upgraded with a new facade as well as new signage, landscaping and parking, he says. The JR Furniture commitment takes the property to 81% leased.Dan Stein of CB Richard Ellis represented building ownership in the lease transaction. HSM Pacific Represented JR Furniture. Stein declined to reveal the negotiated lease rate, but says asking rates at the center range from $14 to $24 per sf per year depending on the location within the center, the size and length of the lease, and the creditworthiness of the tenant. The size and length of the furniture store’s commitment likely would put its lease rate at the low end of that range. JR Furniture operates four stores in the Vancouver BC area and two in the Seattle area (one near Alderwood Mall in Lynwood and another near Southcenter Mall in Renton. Tenant Improvements to the Gresham Square space are currently underway with the store’s grand opening slated for the latter part of July.