The retail market in southern New Hampshire is definitely on the rise

Part 1 appeared in the March 7-13, 2008 Northern New England edition. Gas station C-store activity is not as busy as in years past, some focusing on rebuilding older stores i.e. Mobil on the Run located on Second St. and Hess on Queen City Ave. in Manchester, but new locations continue to be built such as Shuttes Corner, Derry next to Rite Aid and at exit 3 off of Rte. 101 in Candia. The cellular phone companies are still opening new stores especially Verizon and Sprint. Sleepy's the Mattress Professionals is negotiating on several locations and recently opened on One South River Rd. in Bedford on the Manchester line. Planet Fitness continues to open new locations such as their new facility at the Raymond Shopping Center, and recently converted their Eastside Plaza, Manchester express location into the areas first World Gym. Workout Club/Wellness Center is planning large facilities in Salem at exit 2 and in Bedford on Rte. 114. Dollar Tree also continues to expand with new locations on Rte. 28 in Salem, and on Rte. 3 in Hooksett at the RK (K-Mart ) Plaza. Family Dollar is rumored to be looking for sites as well. Cinemagic movie theatres opened the first IMAX Theater on Rte. 3 in Hooksett There have been several new shopping center developments worth highlighting in addition to those already mentioned that provide excellent opportunities for expanding retailers. In Salem, North Broadway Crossing was recently completed featuring McKinnon's Super Market & Butcher's first NH location with a 23,000 s/f superstore. In Bedford on Rte. 3 Sebbins Brook Plaza is quickly leasing up as is Manchester Commons (Shaw's). Amherst St. Village Center in Nashua is leased. There is still space available in several newer developments such as at the Merrimack Village Center (Shaw's), and at the former Shaw's on DWH, the Manchester Shopping Center (Stop n Shop), & Hooksett Commons, Rte. 3. The former Furniture World showroom facing I-293 in Manchester is still available. In Epping the Eppicenter built last year only has one unit left. New development continues in Epping on Rte. 125 with The Common of Epping an 18,000 s/f strip center under construction. Waterstone Retail has plans for an additional 288,000 s/f behind the Burger King, and another 81,500 s/f center is being discussed next to Walgreen's. Rte. 101 and Rte. 114, one of the most prime intersections in the state located in Bedford is the site of a proposed mixed use development. Ten acres at exit 10 in Hooksett may be developed into 50,000 s/f. Salem will see 30,000 s/f of space developed on South Broadway next to Best Buy. A ten acre site on Rte. 28 in Derry is still available which could yield 75,000 s/f. Nearby in Londonderry Berkshire Development recently announced plans it would like to build a campus style center on Rte. 102. In the Seacoast, Federated Companies is building a new center in North Hampton, the Portsmouth Traffic Circle is being redeveloped by Wilder Companies, Waterstone Retail is also developing One North, a 200,000 s/f center on Rte. 1 in Portsmouth. There are still pad sites available next to Lowe's on Lafayette Rd. in Seabrook. Cabela's won TIF financing acceptance by the town in Hooksett but may put off construction for two +/- years. SR Weiner will not be building their proposed 750,000 s/f lifestyle center and it looks like Chelsea Property Group's 135 store Merrimack Premium Outlets at exit 10 is finally going to happen though the approval may be appealed. In conclusion I believe it's fair to say that my title of this article "Retail is on the rise in southern New Hampshire is accurate! Andrew Levy, CCIM, is director of brokerage services for The MEG Companies in Londonderry, NH.