East Brook Mall at 95 Storrs Road in Mansfield Center, Connecticut — Courtesy: The Kislak Co. Inc.
By Joshua Burd
A retail property investor has acquired a roughly 275,000-square-foot shopping center near the University of Connecticut for $12 million, in a deal arranged by The Kislak Co. Inc.
Barry Waisbrod, an executive vice president with the Woodbridge-based brokerage firm, represented America’s Realty LLC in its purchase of East Brook Mall at 95 Storrs Road in Mansfield Center. He noted that the property, which was built in 1975 and renovated in 2005, spans 275,239 square feet and consists of an enclosed mall and outdoor portion with pad sites, housing national such as Old Navy, Kohl’s, TJ Maxx and Michaels.
Waisbrod completed the off-market deal in partnership with Andrew Knight of New England Commercial Brokerage.
“The purchaser is a retail acquisition firm focusing on properties in middle-income markets with value-add potential,” Waisbrod said. “They currently own in 29 states throughout the U.S. and this mall was an ideal acquisition for them given their investment criteria and its low $44 per square foot price. With vacancy around 11 percent the property has strong value-add and development potential.”
The deal was Kislak’s and Waisbrod’s second retail transaction this year with America’s Realty, which also purchased the 156,066-square-foot Uptown Plaza shopping center with two pad sites in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Its latest acquisition is around 30 miles east of Hartford at routes 6 and 195, between the University of Connecticut and Eastern Connecticut State University.
