Group plans new life for old Caldor's

EAST PATCHOGUE - The former Caldor's Shopping Center at the intersection of Montauk Highway and Patchogue-Yaphank Road has been sold for $4.8 million to an investment group that intends to breathe life into the near-dead retail outlet.

The site was sold to 835 Montauk Highway LLC, an investment

The complex sits on 13 acres in East Patchogue. It features 140,000 square feet of retail space, 92 percent of which is vacant, said Roger Delisle of Smithtown-based Island Associates, the real estate services firm that has been marketing the site on behalf of Edgewater Properties, a holding company of Deutsche Bank.

The downward spiral for the center started when its major anchor tenant, the department store chain Caldor's filed for bankruptcy four years ago while Pergament followed suit two years ago.

Since then, the location has remained largely dormant with only a Genovese keeping it from becoming entirely vacant.

Edgewater came into possession of the property in October 2001, after the former owner, the Connecticutbased Cornerstone Group, filed for bankruptcy. Pergament had already vacated the space it held at the center. Since then, no new tenants have signed on for space.

Soon after it acquired the site, Edgewater tapped Island Associates, which targets the retail market, to market the facility. The site had an asking rent of $13 per-square-foot triple net, a low price for retail space.

But following the renovation, Delisle noted the center will have an asking rent of $17 per-square-foot net.

Delisle said the company is still developing the specific plans for the site with engineering firm Seare-Brown and expects it to be completed in about 18 months.

The shopping center was originally developed in the late 1960s and was home to a W.T. Grants department store and a King Kullen.

Delisle said 835 Montauk plans to redevelop the site with a supermarket as an anchor tenant. At present, the only other supermarket in the area is a Waldbaum's at 655 Montauk Highway, also in East Patchogue. But that store is scheduled to close by the end of the first quarter as Waldbaum's consolidates its operations to its store located on Sunrise Highway in Patchogue.

Delisle said he has been in discussions with several supermarket chains, including PathMark. In addition, discussions are under way with discount retailers such as JobLot.

Delisle said Genovese plans to remain at the complex, but has made a request to be placed at the end position of the facility to establish a drive-thru window.

Other possible tenants include the restaurants Boulder Creek and Wendy's, which would be new standalone facilities.

Delisle was the sole broker in the sale transaction to 835 Montauk and has again been awarded the exclusive to market and manage the site.