According to Bierbrier Development, a developer of urban shopping centers in Eastern Mass., the company's latest project, Needham Street Village Shops, has received approval from town officials. The 19,000 s/f, small-shop development at 55 Needham St., which is located inside the Rte. 128 beltway, is set to begin construction this summer and will be ready for tenant occupancy in late 2013 with a grand opening slated for March 2014.

The Needham Street Village Shops site is a 1.5-acre assemblage of two properties previously occupied by International Bicycle and Skipjack's Restaurant. Worcester, Mass.-based Commerce Bank provided construction and acquisition financing, represented by Commerce senior vice president John Kelley and arranged by senior vice presidents Kyle Juszczyszyn and Carlos Febres of CBRE New England.
Other project team members include Ben Starr and Adam Cirel of Atlantic Retail Properties as the exclusive leasing brokers and David Chilinski of Prellwitz, Chilinski as the project architect. Civil and environmental engineer Tighe & Bond; Bob Vanasse of Vanasse & Assoc. engineering; David Boyarsky of D.A.B. Appraisal Services, who represented Bierbrier in the land assembly; and Alan Schlesinger of Schlesinger & Buchbinder, land-use counsel, round out the key project players. Needham Street Village Shops will seek LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification.

"We have a very dynamic team that has helped us put together what we believe is a new style of project to address today's retail needs," said Russ DeMartino, vice president of Development at Bierbrier, who oversees the company's Village Retail program. "Needham Street Village Shops allows us to bring together the streetscape design of a main-street retail corridor having moderate store depths with the parking essential to suburban shopping, all in a location that is part of a dense, mixed-use environment."