A Burlington-based retail property company has paid $7 million to acquire the single-story store block that stretches from 1019 Great Plain Ave. around the corner to 113 Chapel St.
Linear Retail purchased the 11,330-square-foot downtown block from the Heffernan family, which had owned and operated the property since 1970. Built in 1937, the property is fully leased to the six current tenants — Gari’s Japanese Fusion Bistro, Needham Center Fine Wines, Citizen’s Bank, Kumon, Bagel’s Best and Beauty Muse.
Linear Co-CEO Aubrey Cannuscio said his firm has no changes planned for the use of the property.
“There’s no significant plans in the near future to do anything that would change the character of what currently exists,” Cannuscio said. “It’s 100% leased. So, from our perspective, we just want to make sure the tenants succeed.”
It appears the property was not widely marketed prior to the sale.
“We were approached by a friend of the family, and they put me in touch with Betsy Heffernan,” Cannuscio said of the origin of the deal. He said his firm has long had an interest in getting into Needham but had not been successful until now.
“We don’t see many opportunities in Needham. Owners like the Heffernans are in it for the long term,” he said. “You don’t see a lot of turnover in these strong communities.”
“Needham is a wonderful community. And for the 22 years that we’ve been looking to invest in this region, Needham’s been at the top of our list,” Cannuscio said. “We’re long-term investors so you’ll see us around for a long time.”
Mike Heffernan purchased what was known as the Crest block in April 1970. Betsy Heffernan, his daughter, noted that old school Needhamites will remember it as “a gathering place then for kids and families to catch up and hang out” while purchasing penny candy, newspapers, scratch tickets or necessities.
“Our family takes comfort in knowing the property will be thoughtfully managed and preserved by a team that truly appreciates its significance and contribution to Needham Center,” she added on behalf of her seven siblings.
Linear is calling the property Needham Center Shoppes in its marketing material. The company owns 72 other properties in its operating area, which includes Massachusetts communities east of Worcester except for Cape Cod.
“We’re local people, local investors,” Cannuscio said. “And we own properties that are very similar to Needham and in other vibrant downtowns, namely Wellesley. We own four properties in Wellesley.”
Linear has only one marginally mixed-use property in its portfolio and has not done any residential acquisitions or developments. “We focus on acquiring and investing in what we call small format retail,” said Cannuscio.
He said he is aware of aspirations in Needham and elsewhere for adding housing in the downtown, but stressed that was not Linear’s modus operandi.
“I do agree that having more people and more residential units in the center of Needham would be desirable in theory. The question is today, how much would it cost to build it?”
“In order to do significant development in Needham or any other community, you have to assemble a significant amount of land in order to build a moderate-size development,” he said.
“The challenge is finding a critical mass of land that you could develop. But we don’t do that. We buy existing properties. We fix them up and make them look nice.”
John Sisson, still in his first weeks as Needham’s new Director of Economic Development, said he has reached out to Linear’s property manager and leasing agent.
“It was just to say I’m here and right across the street. If you need anything from the town, have questions about licensing or permitting, let me know.”
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