"Samuels is pleased to have selected Eagle Rock as a result of their strong leasing and marketing experience. Their past work with local, regional and national Tenants makes them a perfect match for this project. We look forward to working closely with them on the retail portion of the project." said Cohen.

About Eagle Rock Retail:
Eagle Rock Retail specializes in third-party shopping center leasing throughout New England. Our leasing experience includes work in lifestyle centers, super regional centers, power centers, restaurant leasing and entertainment venues. Our strengths include property marketing, strong local prospecting, broad national tenant relationships, strong lease negotiation, site planning and tenant coordination. Eagle Rock Retail is leasing more than 25 properties totaling over 2.5 million square feet with offices in Newton, MA and West Hartford, CT. Please click here for more information on Eagle Rock Retail: http://www.eaglerockretail.com

About Samuel's & Associates:
Samuels & Associates, a leading New England real estate developer, controls a portfolio of eighteen commercial and residential properties comprising three-million square feet. After more than twenty years of developing, leasing and managing real estate, Samuels & Associates continues to chart new waters with remarkable projects in urban and suburban communities. Samuels & Associates is committed to building long-lasting relationships with the partners, neighbors and local communities involved in the portfolio.

Click here for more info on Samuels: http://www.samuelsre.com

Click here for The Launch at Hingham Shipyard: http://www.hinghamlaunch.com

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Eagle Rock Retail represented the Landlord in each of these separate transactions. Daniel Dori, Brian Zelman and Sara Taylor all of Eagle Rock were instrumental in procuring these deals.

About Eagle Rock Retail:

Eagle Rock Retail specializes in third-party shopping center leasing throughout New England. Our leasing experience includes work in lifestyle centers, super regional centers, power centers, restaurant leasing and entertainment venues. Our strengths include property marketing, strong local prospecting, broad national tenant relationships, strong lease negotiation, site planning and tenant coordination. Eagle Rock Retail is leasing more than 25 properties totaling over 2.5 million square feet with offices in Newton, MA and West Hartford, CT. Please click here for more information on Eagle Rock Retail: www.eaglerockretail.com.

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Kennedy's All-American Barber Club® is an upscale, award-winning, franchised barbershop. Their concept is designed to treat gentlemen to an enjoyable grooming experience and provide the grooming products they need to look and feel their best. Like most gentlemen, the Founders felt out of place at salons frequented by their wives and local strip-mall walk-in "chop shops," so they decided to create a place where they would enjoy getting the grooming services they need. Kennedy's caters to discerning gentlemen looking for a fine grooming experience with the old-world charm of your father's barbershop. Kennedy's features the lost art of straight-razor shaves, shoe-shines and complimentary drinks.

Ooh La La! is a CT-born establishment. The boutique will open in Blue Back Square. Ooh La La! features fashion-forward clothing and a wide variety of accessories including shoes, handbags, belts, and other items geared at completing any ensemble. Some of the hot brands found at the boutique are Everly, USA, Miss Me, Lush, Peppermint, Hot and Delicious and Audry.

"We're always encouraged by the continued interest in Blue Back Square," said Barbara Lerner, Project Marketing Manager for Blue Back Square. "While retail vacancy rates remain very high across the state, we are able to keep ours at a minimum. It's certainly a reflection of the first rate retail experience consumers have when they come to Blue Back Square."

Each of the three new retail establishments plans to open in Blue Back Square this summer.

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"We think that the Front Street district lends itself toward entertainment and restaurant venues," Dori said.

Eagle Rock replaces Colliers International as the lead broker on Front Street. FirstService Williams was the original leasing agent on the project, before it took on the name of its parent company, Colliers International last year.

Peter Christian, HB Nitkin's director of development and acquisitions, did not return a call seeking comment on the change in brokers.

Eagle Rock's task won't be an easy one. The long-awaited Front Street project finished construction last summer, but still remains vacant.

The Capital City Economic Development Authority announced in November that Cinema Grill would be building Front Street's first operation, a movie theater with a full-service dinner menu, but the deal fell through.

Now CCEDA and Nitkin are pinning their hopes on Spotlight Theatres, a Georgia-based operation that signed a lease a few months ago and is moving forward in the design process for construction of the movie theater.

Spotlight Theatres was formed in 2003 by Joseph Paletta, a veteran of the movie theater industry. Like Cinema Grill, the theater has a full-service restaurant option at its facilities.

Dori said they have not pinpointed an opening date for the theater at this time.

In terms of attracting other tenants to Front Street, Dori said "We are working with several groups in advanced stages of negotiation, but we can't make a public announcement until leases are signed."

"My goal is to get it 100 percent rented by the end of the year," he added.

The developers of Front Street have said the project has garnered a lot of interest from restaurants and other entertainment venues, but that they need to have an anchor tenant in place before anyone is willing to sign a lease.

Front Street is the final phase of Adriaen's Landing, the state and privately-funded residential, retail and commercial development intended to attract activity to downtown Hartford.

The plan includes the existing Connecticut Convention Center, Connecticut Science Center and the 409-room Marriott Hartford Hotel.

Eagle Rock Retail is a newcomer to Connecticut. The Waltham, Mass.-based firm formed in 2010, and got its start in Connecticut leasing with the North Town Shopping Center in Stratford.

Dori, who said he has more than 12 years of experience in commercial shopping center leasing, is a Connecticut native who previously worked at several Massachusetts and New York real estate firms including Vornado Realty Trust and National Realty & Development Corp.

He said he decided to leave his previous job at Massachusetts-based W/S Development, LLC, to start his new firm. Sara Taylor, who is Eagle Rock's vice president of leasing, also joined Dori from W/S Development.

"We decided it was the right time to get into the real estate business on our own," Dori said.

In terms of growth opportunities, Dori said he sees Connecticut as an attractive market. The company caters to the third-party leasing needs of shopping centers in New England with a strong emphasis on recruiting restaurant and entertainment tenants.

It was that background that attracted Dori to Front Street, he said.

Eagle Rock Retail was tapped last fall by Ronus Properties to take over the retail leasing of West Hartford's Blue Back Square.

Blue Back property manager Will Lorenz said they were introduced to Eagle Rock by local broker and developer Lee Pollock, who is also involved with the property. Blue Back decided to cut ties with its original retail broker Samuels & Associates, after the Boston-based firm had gone through some turnover. He said Blue Back also was looking for some fresh faces.

Lorenz said he is preparing to name three new tenants at Blue Back Square and hopes to have a total of five new tenants by the end of the year.

"We were sold on Eagle Rock because their portfolio has a similar tenant mix that we are looking for," Lorenz said.

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About Eagle Rock Retail:

Eagle Rock Retail specializes in third-party shopping center leasing throughout New England. Our leasing experience includes work in super regional centers, power centers, restaurant leasing, entertainment venues, grocery anchored and lifestyle centers. Our strengths include property marketing, strong local prospecting, broad national tenant relationships, strong lease negotiation, site planning and tenant coordination. Eagle Rock Retail is leasing more than 25 properties totaling over 2 million square feet with offices in Waltham, MA and West Hartford, CT. Please click here for more information on Eagle Rock Retail: http://www.eaglerockretail.com .

About Equity One (NYSE: EQY):

Equity One is a fully integrated real estate investment trust specializing in the acquisition, asset management, development and redevelopment of quality neighborhood and community shopping centers located in strategic metropolitan areas across the United States. Their core operating strategy is to maximize return on equity by maintaining high occupancy levels, attracting and retaining a strong base of tenants and enhancing the value of their core assets. The majority of their shopping centers are anchored by leading supermarkets, pharmacies and large retail stores.

Click here for more information on Equity One: http://www.equityone.net.

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Though Pepper protests against the adjective “unusual,” Boloco’s concept is based on taking a very traditional food—the Mexican burrito—and giving it a twist with fillings that draw on favorites from other cuisines. For example, the chain’s most popular sellers include the Buffalo chicken burrito, the Memphis BBQ burrito and the Bangkok Thai burrito. Boloco also sells salads, wraps, shakes and smoothies. It’s one of those places loved by busy office workers who want to be able to get an affordable, healthy lunch and get in and out of the restaurant in minutes, according to Pepper.

As a result, downtown financial districts are among the places Boloco scours for potential new sites. In those locations, the chain prefers to limit its operations to peak times—from 7:00 in the morning until about 4:00 in the afternoon, when the lunch time crowds abate. In other environments, however, Boloco works until 10:00 at night. In addition to the CBDs, it likes locations on college campuses, near hospitals, in airports and in suburban areas with demographics that fit in squarely in the middle-income bracket.

Co-tenancies with Starbucks and Panera Bread work out particularly well because those chains seek out the same customers as Boloco, notes Sara Taylor, of Waltham, Mass.-based Eagle Rock Retail LLC, the chain’s real estate agent. Being located in the same centers as Whole Foods and Target also creates good synergies.

“We feel like our perfect zone is a place where there is a decent size working population,” Pepper says. “And families and kids in reasonably well-to-do, but not very wealthy areas, have an appreciation for what we do.”

Boloco’s restaurants range from 1,600 square feet to 2,300 square feet and it prefers end caps, according to Taylor. One of the things that set the chain apart is its insistence on sustainable development—Boloco is certified by the Green Restaurant Association. It uses environmentally sustainable materials, most notably bamboo, in construction. Most of its disposable ware is compostable. Its décor also tends to be upscale—many units feature large screen TVs, free Wi-Fi and works by local artists. In addition, Pepper is adamant about providing fair pay and benefits for Boloco employees.

“I just don’t understand how you can build a good business without taking care of your people,” he notes. Many fast food chains tout the fact that they recognize good performance, he points out. But “recognition is great, as long as you are able to survive.”

As a result of all these factors, opening new locations tends to be expensive. To help out with the expense, Boloco looks for its landlords to pay to get new sites into “restaurant condition,” in addition to providing tenant improvement (TI) dollars. The chain is well-known in the region, so landlords in the more suburban locations tend to take these requirements in stride, Taylor notes. In Boston proper, however, the restaurant sector has held up remarkably well through the downturn, so there is less room to do opportunistic deals.

So far, the company’s model has been to sign 10-year leases, with two five-year options. But as it looks for more drive-through locations in suburban areas, it will consider doing ground leases, Taylor adds.

Today, Boloco’s nexis is in Boston, where it operates 13 of its restaurants. It also has a few outposts in nearby New Hampshire and Vermont. But in 2012, Pepper would like to break into a new market in Eastern U.S., ending the year at approximately 30 locations overall. To that end, Boloco recently secured $5.5 million in equity capital from Chicago-based investment firm Winona Capital Management. But even though Winona has worked with Boloco before—that $5.5 million was part of a larger package of approximately $15.5 million, $10 million of which was secured three years ago, getting that money was no easy task.

“It was challenging to come to an agreement on the value of the business,” Pepper says. “In this climate, everybody is scared to make big investments. Even though we worked with Winona for three years, they had to question harder what the company’s prospects are and how do you value those? It was a long process.”

What ultimately convinced Winona to put more money into the chain was the fact that even in the midst of the worst recession in years Boloco’s restaurants have been posting positive same-store sales growth, notes Laird Koldyke, managing director with Winona. Some of the more recently opened units have been bringing in more than $1 million in annual sales. Plus, Boloco’s multiple flavor options have allowed it to grow its customer base beyond traditional burrito lovers.

“The company has excellent unit level economics and cash on cash returns, and it has demonstrated its ability to operate in three states. It clearly has legs within greater New England,” says Koldyke. “So our level of enthusiasm for the business and opening new stores has been strengthened even though the recession has been difficult for all restaurant companies.”

Pepper expects that at Boloco’s current expansion pace, by 2011 the company will need more capital commitments. To that end, he’s been looking for an operating company to partner with.

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“We are extremely pleased to have been able to close the purchase of the prestigious Fairhaven portfolio. This acquisition provided a purchaser with the extremely rare opportunity to acquire a large, high quality Long Island multifamily portfolio with superior locations. Fairhaven has been a highly respected name in the Long Island community for nearly 50 years. We look forward to continuing that excellent reputation and in bringing the communities and their residents into the Eagle Rock family. We continue to believe in the future of Long Island and the strength of its people. As such, Eagle Rock intends to continue to grow its Long Island portfolio.”

“Like the Sellers, we are a family business conceived and grown on Long Island,” stated Eagle Rock’s President and co-founder, Adam Seelig. He added, “[w]e only manage properties we own and are confident this strategy leads to a better tenant experience.”

Mark and Adam, who are brothers, were born and raised on Long Island. They have been buying residential real estate on Long Island for nearly 20 years. Eagle Rock owns and manages garden apartments valued at several hundreds of millions of dollars. To date Eagle Rock has built its portfolio with the confidence of private investors and the strong support of local lender partners, including New York Community Bank, which worked closely with Eagle Rock to close this purchase.

As Mark Seelig stated, “[w]e are all about the singles and doubles. We’re not interested in the excessive leverage that has damaged or destroyed so many other real estate companies. My brother and I operate on a simple philosophy: ‘Work hard, limit risk, and do not over reach’. We buy properties based upon the strength of each individual property and its tenants. It sounds old fashioned but we have always believed slow and steady wins the race. Through responsible acquisitions and relationship leasing, we intend to continue to grow our business on the pillars of investor and tenant satisfaction.

John Thomas, of Select Realty Investment Advisors, LLC, who represented Eagle Rock in their acquisition of the portfolio, commented that “[t]he seller is a family who demanded confidentiality and certainty of buyer execution. Having worked with Eagle Rock before, I knew they were the perfect buyer. Mark and Adam Seelig, along with their entire team, including real estate attorney James Hausman of Meister Seelig & Fein LLP, have consistently demonstrated the unique ability to operate in the highly sophisticated, professional manner of an institutional client while providing the responsiveness, creativity and advantages of an entrepreneurial private group. Eagle Rock’s entire team proactively addressed the challenges and complexity of executing a transaction of this magnitude in the current real estate climate. Once again, Eagle Rock completed a transaction consistent with their word; they simply do what they say they will do. I expect their future to be very bright as they continue to expand their holdings.”

Eagle Rock communities are located in Woodbury, Jericho, Hicksville, Mineola, Carle Place, Seaford, Amityville, Huntington Station, Levittown, Freeport, Rockville Center, Copiague, North Bellmore, Nesconset, Brentwood, and Lindenhurst. Its website is www.eaglerockmanagement.com.

Eagle Rock Retail LLC, an affiliate, operates a retail development and leasing company headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Daniel Dori, its President, commented on the successful Fairhaven acquisition by saying “[t]his will provide the Eagle Rock companies with new and exciting opportunities to continue to expand the Eagle Rock brand in multi-family and retail throughout the Northeast.”

Mark J. Seelig is also a founding partner of Meister Seelig & Fein, LLP, a highly respected Manhattan based commercial law firm. MSF maintains offices in New York, California, Massachusetts and New Jersey. MSF has represented each of the Eagle Rock companies since their formation. Its website is www.meisterseelig.com.

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