Mike Murray of Metro Commercial inked the 4,000-sf lease transaction for Verizon Wireless in the 12,000-sf retail center under construction on Roosevelt Blvd and Red Lion Rd. Murray also recently executed a 3,000-sf Verizon Wireless lease transaction for Towne Place at Garden State Park, a 250,000-sf lifestyle center in Cherry Hill, NJ. Murray tells GlobeSt.com that the retailer is continuing to expand in Philadelphia even though it closed on a large number of lease transactions in the city last year. "They are looking for opportunities in quality retail corridors," he says. Asking rates for space in which the stores typically locate range between $15 per sf to $30 per sf.

Murray negotiated eight lease transactions last year tallying more than 24,000 sf for Verizon Wireless in and around the Philadelphia area. These include Abington Town Center in Abington; City Avenue Shopping Center in Philadelphia; the Promenade at Saucon Valley, in Center Valley; the Court at Upper Providence in Upper Providence; Cambridge Crossing, in Mt. Laurel, NJ; Concordville Town Center, in Concordville; Broadcasting Square shopping center, in Reading/Wyomissing; and Morgantown Crossing in Morgantown. In total, Metro Commercial has leased nearly 60,000-sf for the wireless company.

According to a report from the Philadelphia office of Marcus & Millichap, effective retail rent rates in the Pennsylvania locations range from an average of $13.52 per sf in Gloucester County to an average of $19.91 per sf in Delaware County.