Project of the Month: Hecht Development to convert 910 Boston Turnpike to a retail center - 12,000 s/f of space available

910 Boston Turnpike used to be an almost camouflaged building on Rte. 9 with 48,000 cars per day going by. The property was recently purchased by Hecht Development, and is being converted from high tech space to retail space. "I am not sure the military could have done a better job of hiding this building in plain site," said Ken Hecht. To convert the property to retail, Hecht Dev. erected a 35-foot high pylon sign on Rte. 9 with an electronic message board, which will be shared by tenants in the center. The landscaping was modified to increase visibility and the building was painted a noticeable series of colors in order to "turn some heads" and give the building the ability to stand out as never before. Matt Smith and Matt Mrva of Bohler Engineering performed the landscape architecture work, while Paul Morris of Pinnacle Construction was general contractor for all landscaping, painting, site work, etc. Gary McCoy of Poyant Signs did the design, permitting and installation of the enormous and high-quality pylon. Howard Levine of Cramer Levine & Company, Architects is the architect working to convert the space from high tech to retail while Mark Donahue of Fletcher Tilton in Worcester was the permitting attorney for the pylon sign and for any conversion to retail permitting issues. 910 Boston Tpke. is located along a stretch of Rte. 9 that features numerous, very strong national and regional retailers. The retail corridor segment between South St. and Rte. 20 is compact and concentrated and is anchored by some of the biggest names in the business including Wegman's, Price Chopper, BJ's Wholesale, PetSmart, Toys 'R' Us, Babies 'R' Us, Kohl's, Golfsmith, TJ Maxx, Joseph A. Bank, Christmas Tree Shops, Dick's Sporting Goods, The Paper Store, Starbucks and Eastern Mountain Sports. To demonstrate the wealth in the area, along this concentrated corridor are also Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi, Lincoln and Mazda automobile dealerships, a number of which have recently been developed into high-end dealerships. The grocery components of Wegman's and Price Chopper along with many of these other top shelf retailers have been constructed in the last 2 years and give almost 200,000 s/f of new grocery anchors drawing thousands of daily needs shoppers to 910 Boston Tpke. A key advantage for retailers at 910 Boston Tpke. is the opportunity to advertise on the new pylon sign including a 55 s/f color electronic sign. In addition to getting excellent traditional signage on the pylon, tenants will be able to put changing messages on the electronic sign in order to increase awareness and sales dramatically. The sign is completely programmable and will be shared by tenants in the center. 910 Boston Tpke. has strong traffic counts, incomes and population densities with over 100,000 people in 5 miles with a median household income of over $93,000 within 3 miles. "It is very exciting to find a property which has been used for years as a high tech building which can now be converted to an affordable retail building directly on Rte. 9 Between Wegman's and Price Chopper. It offers retail tenants space in the mid to high teens triple net in a market which typically gets between $25 and $35 per s/f. It even has an end cap available with the potential for a drive through," said Hecht. Currently there are 12,000 contiguous s/f available in 3,000 s/f suites. Hecht Development is seeking to purchase existing retail, office and industrial properties and land north and west of Boston. 910 Boston Turnpike Project Team Developer/Leasing: Hecht Development Architect: Cramer Levine & Company, Architects Landscape Architect: Bohler Engineering General Contractor: Pinnacle Construction Company, Inc. Signage: Poyant Signs Electrical Contractor: East Corp. Electrical Services Legal Counsel-Permitting: Fletcher Tilton PC