Bierbrier celebrates grand opening of Arlington Village Shops expansion

Officials from Bierbrier Development Inc., a developer and owner of urban shopping centers in eastern Mass., joined representatives from the town of Arlington, local business leaders and tenants recently to celebrate the grand opening of the 9,000 s/f addition to the existing Arlington Village Shops shopping center. "We're very excited to have not only completed this expansion successfully, but also have nearly fully leased the new space. Despite a slowdown in the retail industry, it's a great accomplishment," said Len Bierbrier, president of Bierbrier Development. "Also, we're very thankful to the officials of the town of Arlington and the town's planning board for their cooperation and professionalism throughout the permitting and construction processes of this project." The new addition, which will be one of the first core and shell LEED-certified retail buildings in Mass., has expanded Arlington Village Shops to a total of 25,000 s/f of rentable retail space. LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high-performance green buildings and is awarded by the U.S. Green Building Council. Leading the way for new tenants at Arlington Village Shops is Unleashed by PETCO which leased 5,000 s/f of retail space at the new building to open one of the first regional Unleashed boutique pet shops. PETCO is one of the nation's leading pet specialty retailers, providing products, services and advice about pet animals. Hair Cuttery, a national hair cuts and full-service salon, leased 1,375 s/f of retail space in the new building. Only 2,500 s/f of space is still available for lease. Bierbrier Development also recently leased 3,300 s/f of retail space in the existing Arlington Village Shops to The Meat House, a national franchise that has store locations in 6 states - Me., Mass., N.H., N.Y., N.C. and Calif. - with additional locations opening in Conn., Mass., N.C. and Tex. in early 2010. Brockton-based DMR Construction served as the general contractor for the new addition. Cambridge-based Prellwitz Chillinski Associates served as project architect.