Berkshire Crossing Shopping Center sold to subsidiary of Michigan-based real estate investment trust - Berkshire Eagle

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By Tony Dobrowolski, The Berkshire Eagle

PITTSFIELD — One of the city's largest retail shopping complexes has been sold for $16.8 million to a subsidiary of a publicly traded Michigan-based real estate investment trust that owns properties in 46 states.

Agree Stores LLC, a subsidiary of Agree Realty Corp. of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., purchased the Berkshire Crossing Shopping Center at 555 Hubbard Ave. from the local affiliate of Brixmor Property Group of New York City on Sept. 23, according to documents filed at the Middle Berkshire Registry of Deeds.

Agree has also acquired all easements, covenants, and restrictions that come with the 14.9 acre property, which had been owned locally by Berkshire Crossing Retail LLC, according to registry documents.

Berkshire Crossing contains 16 stores, many of them occupied by national retailers including Walmart, Home Depot, Staples, Barnes and Noble and Starbuck's, national restaurant chains Chili's, Applebee's and Taco Bell and regional supermarket chain Price Chopper, which operates a Market 32 on the site. The complex contains 436,854 square feet.

In a conference call to discuss third quarter results in 2019, Agree President Joey Agree told investors that the company was looking for ways to grow its portfolio of Home Depot stores, according to MiBiz.com. On the conference call, Agree referred to Home Depot as a "a great retail partner of ours, obviously a dominant player in the home improvement space."

Agree did not return a telephone call or an email message from The Eagle seeking comment on the Berkshire Crossing transaction.

Originally founded in 1971 as Agree Development Co., the firm is primarily engaged in the acquisition and development of properties that are leased to industry-leading retail tenants. As of June 30, Agree Realty owned and operated 936 properties in 46 states that contain approximately 18.4 million square feet of gross leasable space, according to the company's website.

Brixmor Property Group is a publicly traded REIT originally formed in Maryland whose origins date back to 2003. In 2016, three company officers, including the then president/CEO, resigned because of an accounting scandal. As of Dec. 31, Brixmor owned interests in 403 shopping centers that contained 71 million square feet.

Tony Dobrowolski can be reached at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com or 413-281-2755.