BURLINGTON, Mass. -- Linear Retail Properties LLC has purchased 15 White Hen Pantry convenience stores in eastern Massachusettsincluding 14 freestanding stores and one multi-tenanted locationfrom New England Pantry Inc., which operates all 55 White Hen Pantry locations in New England.
Linear Retail paid $12.3 million for the 15 locations, which were leased back by New England Pantry under long-term leases. The stores are in Winthrop, Revere, Everett, Lynn, Newburyport, West Roxbury, Lawrence, Lowell, Haverhill, West Harwich, Natick, Shrewsbury and Pepperell, [image-nocss] as well as two in Worcester, Mass.
The transaction is Linear Retail's sixth so far in 2006 and 18th since the company was formed three years ago. It now owns 32 retail properties in eastern Massachusetts, southern New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
We were talking to New England Pantry about opening a new store in one of our properties and our conversations evolved into this mutually beneficial sale-leaseback transaction for their portfolio of owned properties. We were impressed by New England Pantry's operations, the great locations they owned and the strong sales performance of these stores. With $200 million still to invest, we had immediate interest in pursuing a portfolio transaction with New England Pantry and hope to do more just like it with other retailers, said Bill Beckeman, president and CEO of Linear Retail.
According to Andy Brothers, CEO of New England Pantry, We weren't seeking to sell our properties, but when Linear Retail showed us how we could take advantage of the strong retail real estate market and free up capital to allow us to accelerate our expansion, we reconsidered. It was a rather complicated transaction but it was a pleasure working through the myriad of issues with Linear Retail. Now we can focus more energy on opening new stores including a new White Hen Pantry at Centre Street Village in Danvers, another property owned by Linear Retail.
Burlington, Mass.-based Linear Retail Properties is a retail real-estate acquisition and operating company launched by William J. Beckeman in 2003 in partnership with Principal Enterprise Capital, a subsidiary of the Principal Financial Group. Linear Retail focuses on the acquisition, operation, and repositioning of convenience-oriented retail properties; targeted acquisitions include small to midsized, typically unanchored retail properties ranging from fully stabilized shopping centers and freestanding stores to retail sites in need of complete redevelopment. Individual investments will typically range from a minimum of $1 million to $15 million.
In August 2006, Dallas-based 7-Eleven Inc. purchased the White Hen Pantry chain, which operates and franchises 206 locations in the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana and licenses another 55 locations in Massachusetts.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.