Ground-up
development
Our development capabilities include:
- A strategic site selection process
- Hands-on coordination of third-party architects, engineers, and contractors
- Extensive land use, zoning, and entitlement expertise
Redevelopment and
adaptive reuse
Brand Street also targets redevelopment and adaptive reuse opportunities, navigating the various challenges that stem from existing property infrastructure, in-place tenancy, and historical landmark limitations.
Case Studies
TWIN CITY PLAZA
Cambridge, MAA 300,000 SF shopping center located in the Cambridge/Somerville area of Kendall Square, just north of Boston. The property is anchored by Star Market and contains junior anchors such as Marshalls and Dollar Tree.
Our redevelopment of the asset required a complex entitlement process, including a legislative approval for a land swap with the Metropolitan District Commission (MDC), environmental approvals from Massachusetts Environmental Policy ACT (MEPA) and permitting approvals from both the City of Cambridge and City of Somerville.
In addition to the entitlement hurdles, the property’s parking layout was poorly configured, and at the time of acquisition, the center suffered from a very high vacancy rate. To address the property’s challenged site plan and insufficient parking, we acquired an adjacent piece of land to grow the parking field and facilitate an expansion of Star Market’s undersized store. The redevelopment effort resulted in 100 new parking spaces, a new 60,000 SF Star Market grocery store and additional in-line retail space to accommodate a new 25,000 SF Marshalls store.
The property was stabilized and sold to a publicly traded REIT in 2006.
SOUTH CAPE VILLAGE
SOUTH CAPE VILLAGE
Mashpee, MAA 150,000 SF, Roche Brothers Supermarket anchored community shopping center located on Cape Cod, in the vibrant year-round community of Mashpee, MA. Junior anchors complimenting the Roche Brothers grocer include Marshalls, HomeGoods and Walgreen’s Pharmacy.
The property was acquired in 2015 by an institutional investment group, who we strategically partnered with to provide 3rd-party management, leasing, and development services. The center was 85% occupied at inception, with a tenancy that heavily consisted of short-term mom and pop businesses paying below market rents.
The business plan focused on correcting the original site plan, which was dysfunctional and inefficiently laid out. By properly re-distributing the parking areas and reconfiguring certain poorly positioned improvements, we upgraded the site plan allowing customers to access tenant stores more seamlessly. The added parking stalls and removal of ill-conceived, unleasable areas greatly enhanced the viability of the property’s various merchants and ultimately, the long-term stability of asset. Over a 3-year period, we brought the property’s occupancy rate up to the mid-90% range and increased NOI by 22%. This included the addition of a new HomeGoods junior anchor to the tenant mix.
3rd-party property management & development with Ares Management.
WHITE CITY SHOPPING CENTER
WHITE CITY SHOPPING CENTER
Shrewsbury, MAA 275,000 SF, Shaw’s anchored shopping center located along Route 9, the primary retail corridor in Central Massachusetts. Other key tenants include Planet Fitness, Petco, Red Wing Shoes, Party City, The Paper Store, Ideal Image, Five Guys, Elements, Jimmy’s Tavern, Bridgestone Autocare, and Santander Bank.
The well-established but neglected asset had been operated by the property’s original developer for 40 years prior to our acquisition in 2011. We subsequently completed an extensive 4-year redevelopment plan, which included new storefronts and facades, new and reconfigured parking lots, new circulation patterns and drive aisles, added site lighting, infrastructure upgrades, monument and pylon signage upgrades and a new traffic light linking both sides of the property. Over the course of ownership, more than thirty retail spaces were either re-leased to new tenants or stabilized via restructuring / extending leases with in-place tenants.
JV co-investment with Acadia Realty Trust.
The property was sold to an institutional real estate investment fund in 2015.
BEDFORD SQUARE
BEDFORD SQUARE
Westport, CTAn award-winning, 125,000 SF mixed-use adaptive reuse redevelopment of the historic Bedford Mansion and firehouse (acquired from and former home of the Westport YMCA) in the heart of downtown Westport, an affluent suburban community in Fairfield County, CT.
Initiated through a publicly driven RFP process by the town of Westport, the $100M redevelopment project involved a lengthy and complex entitlement process that included historic landmark zoning restrictions, flood zone constraints, and a multitude of hurdles from abutting stakeholders.
The project was completed in 2017 and now includes a 3-story flagship Anthropologie store, Williams Sonoma, Emmy Squared, One Medical, Serena & Lily, a mix of professional office tenants and 24 luxury apartments.
JV co-investment with private family office.