Greetings & Readings Signs 30,000 Square Foot Lease with Greenberg Gibbons Commercial at Hunt Valley Towne Centre
New location will complement its existing site at Loch Raven Plaza, which opened in 1969
Owings Mills, MD (July 6, 2004) – Greetings & Readings, the venerable books, gifts, party supplies and cards retailer has signed a lease with Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corporation for 30,000 square feet of space at Hunt Valley Towne Centre in Hunt Valley, MD. The store, which has operated at Loch Raven Plaza in Towson since 1969, expects to open its second store in Spring 2005, and retain its iconic location on 809 Taylor Avenue. More than 75 new full-time and part-time employees will be hired to man the store, bringing the total Greetings & Readings workforce to more than 200.
Last fall, the Owings Mills-based commercial real estate developer embarked on a comprehensive re-development program at the former Hunt Valley Mall. When completed next year, the project will feature more than 860,000 square feet of retail space, including 250,000 square feet in an open air “Main Street” environment, as well as various pad site locations.
The property is part of the joint venture formed in 2001 between Greenberg Gibbons Commercial and PREI, the real estate investment arm of Prudential Financial, Inc. The joint venture has already developed, redeveloped and acquired more than $250 million worth of mixed-use, retail and entertainment properties.
“Hunt Valley Town Centre represents the next wave of shopping environments, and we were looking for a location that combines elements of fun, excitement, entertainment, restaurants and ambiance,” stated Steven Baum, President of Greetings & Readings. “The Hunt Valley site is close enough to our existing store so that we can efficiently run both operations, yet far enough away to create a new level of customers. The presence of Wegmans Food Market will provide an incredibly powerful anchor for the project, and draw consumers from a regional perspective,” he added.
“Our plan is to combine a mix of national, regional and local retailers at Hunt Valley Towne Centre and, in Greetings & Readings, we have secured one of the most highly-recognizable and successful merchants in the Baltimore area,” stated Greenberg, Chairman of the Company. “Throughout its history, Greetings & Readings has built an impressive consumer following and is known for its wide range of unique products and unparalleled service. The store immediately becomes a destination point for the Town Centre and serves as an excellent complement to our current roster of merchants,” he added.
After operating at a single-site for more than 35 years, Baum indicated that it took “almost the perfect project” to entice Greetings & Readings to expand to a second location. “We have seen the success of other Town Centres and believe, for our retail concept, that Hunt Valley represents an opportunity that we couldn’t overlook,” he added. “The trend is for customers to spend an increasingly amount of time at one shopping venue, to avoid multiple trips to different retail centers. Our product offering of books, cards and gifts plays into this philosophy, as our consumers tend to linger for longer periods of time,” he added.
Construction work is on schedule for the 130,000 square foot Wegmans Food Market, with the grocery store expected to open its first Baltimore-area location in Spring 2005. It will join existing tenants that include Sears, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Wal-Mart, Burlington Coat Factory, DSW and Hoyt’s Cinema. Leasing negotiations are in progress with a number of other retailers in the soft goods, apparel and general merchandise categories, and Greenberg Gibbons Commercial will make additional announcements in the near future.
“Our goal is to transform Hunt Valley Towne Centre into the retail jewel of Baltimore County, which takes both creative design and architecture and tenants that stir the interest and imagination of the surrounding community,” stated Brian Gibbons, President and CEO of Greenberg Gibbons Commercial.
Located off Interstate 83 Exit 20B, the project is six miles north of the Baltimore Beltway, adjacent to the Hunt Valley Business Community, 10 miles from Towson, 20 miles from downtown Baltimore City and 35 miles from the City of York, PA. The Hunt Valley light rail station is contained on the parking lot of Hunt Valley Towne Centre.
More than one million consumers reside within a fifteen mile radius of the project, with an average household income of more than $140,000 and the site is surrounded by more than seven million square feet of office space and five hotels.
“Few retail projects combine the one-two punch of daytime traffic -- represented by the daily office workers in the immediate area – with the outstanding residential demographics that exist during the evenings and weekends,” Gibbons added. “Three major arteries carry more than 200,000 vehicles past the project everyday, a number that will significantly rise upon completion of the project,” he added.
Greenberg Gibbons Commercial, founded in 1968, focuses on the acquisition, development, leasing and management of mixed-use properties and retail shopping centers in the Mid-Atlantic region. The firm builds value in these holdings through asset management, re-development and leasing activities. The company presently owns and manages eighteen properties totaling more than three million square feet of space throughout Maryland, Virginia and Louisiana.
For additional information, contact:
David Goldbloom, Greenberg Gibbons Commercial 410-559-2508
Steven Baum, Greetings & Readings 443-465-5707
Larry Lichtenauer, LH&A 410-833-6205
