Barber says that the project is already 70% leased--an unusual development for this stage. "To be at this level of leases now is a delight," he says. Phase 1 is a 202,000-sf lifestyle retail center that will deliver next year. Phase 11 includes a discount retailer, movie theater and four restaurant parcels. Asking rates are in accordance with the market, he says, at about low- to mid-$20s per sf on a triple net basis.

Phase II will hopefully begin in Q1 2008; the retailer has been identified already. "Right now we are going through the permitting process."

First & Main Blacksburg is among the first wave of projects to be funded by New Boston Fund VII, a $350 million fund that, when leveraged with debt, gives New Boston close to $1 billion in purchasing power. The fund will focus on projects in New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Florida.

Elsewhere in the Mid-Atlantic, New Boston Fund is also working on a value-add acquisition in Northern Virginia, a distressed land acquisition in Maryland, and an industrial development in Loudoun County, VA.

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Erika Morphy

Erika Morphy has been writing about commercial real estate at GlobeSt.com for more than ten years, covering the capital markets, the Mid-Atlantic region and national topics. She's a nerd so favorite examples of the former include accounting standards, Basel III and what Congress is brewing.