Aug. 14--In a whopping day for Benderson Development Co., the region's largest retail property owner spent $108 million to repurchase Boulevard Consumer Square in Amherst and two large Transit Road retail properties from Developers Diversified Realty as part of a much larger, previously disclosed package.

In one of the biggest single transactions locally, the Florida-based developer paid $68.5 million to buy back Boulevard Consumer Square on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst.

The 700,810 square-foot property is anchored by Target, Lowe's, Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Babies R US and Christmas Tree Shops, with additional box stores and smaller restaurants and retailers in between. It's one of the most heavily trafficked shopping centers in the region, located along a highly traveled retail corridor.

Additionally, Benderson paid $32.04 million, in a series of more than six separate but simultaneous transactions with multiple affiliates, to buy back Eastgate Plaza in Clarence from Cleveland-based DDR, according to Erie County Clerk records.

Eastgate, with 520,876 square feet fof space, includes BJ's Wholesale Club, a Walmart Supercenter, Linens 'N Things, Dick's Sporting Goods and other stores.

Additionally, the firm paid $7.46 million in two transactions to repurchase the Transit Wehrle Retail Center in Lancaster, including a Regal Cinemas Imax theater at 6707 Transit, Carstar Northeast Collision, a Quiznos sandwich shop, a nail salon and Verizon Wireless. That plaza has 112,949 square feet of retail space.

In all, the two Transit properties were valued at $39.5 million.

The three purchases are part of a larger group of eight local properties, and 11 around the state, that Benderson is buying back from DDR, five years after it first sold them to the real estate investment trust. Full terms have not been disclosed, but sources have said Benderson is paying between $160 million and $175 million, which is a significant discount to what DDR paid in 2004.

Benderson, the largest retail property owner in Western New York, has already completed its repurchases of the Sheridan/ Delaware Plaza in Tonawanda, the Sheridan-Harlem Plaza in Amherst and the Tops Market in Hamburg, for a combined $19.85 million.

That leaves Transit Commons in Amherst and Marshall's Plaza in Buffalo as the local deals still pending. Benderson vice president of leasing Eric Recoon said those are expected to close in a week or two.

jepstein@buffnews.com

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