The recent sale of Hudson River Commons, a 129,059-square-foot strip retail center in Troy, New York, encapsulates the retail sector's trials and tribulations in recent years and reflects broader trends at work across urban redevelopment and economic revitalization within the market.
Historically, the area has undergone significant transformations, shifting from its industrial roots to a more diversified economy. Investing in and redeveloping properties such as Hudson River Commons played a crucial role in Troy's emergence as a commercial hub.
For its role in overcoming a series of challenges to a successful repositioning and eventual sale, Hudson River Commons earned a 2025 CoStar Impact Award for sale/acquisition of the year in the Albany market, as judged by real estate professionals familiar with the area.
About the deal: Although the sale of Hudson River Commons closed in March 2024, to fully appreciate the story behind the sale and the center's high occupancy, one must go back to the first time Joseph C. French Jr. brokered the sale of this property. In late 2013, he represented the lender that had foreclosed on the building in its sale to Magellan Realty Partners. Over the next two years, Magellan invested millions of dollars to renovate and reposition the property. In addition, two new pad buildings were developed: one for a Sonic restaurant and the second for Starbucks and Saratoga National Bank.
French commended Magellan's moves in redeveloping the property, noting that it was "positioned perfectly for the buyer to add a few finishing touches."
At the same time Magellan was investing to upgrade the retail property, it was working to backfill the large vacancy of the former Peebles anchor space. The French Retail Team began marketing the property in June 2022.
It initially went under contract in July 2022, but the buyer got cold feet waiting for new leases to be finalized. French and Kodi Traver, another investment specialist from the French Retail Team at Marcus & Millichap, then took the property back to market a second time and secured a sale contract in February 2023. However, the buyer again backed out after some executed leases fell through.
Finally, in July 2023, French and Traver arranged for the property to go under contract for a third time. However, there were still challenges to overcome, most notably a lease with the Social Security Administration with a drawn-out negotiation and build-out process. In addition, discount grocer Save A Lot, which was a tenant under a corporate lease, closed several of its locations, including the one at Hudson River Commons. However, the lease term runs through 2027, allowing the new owner time to find a replacement tenant.
Other challenges in this sale are familiar to every retail property owner and broker. Securing lending was difficult because some leases were not yet signed, and lenders were unwilling to assign value for the center's income. Also, rising interest rates threatened the deal, necessitating French to enlist a capital market advisor to help the buyer secure financing.
What the judges said: "The Hudson River Commons shopping center is a commercial anchor in that neighborhood in Troy and was a very complex transaction to finance," said NAI Platform's Felton McLaughlin.
They made it happen: Joseph C. French Jr. and Kodi Traver, investment specialists from the French Retail Team at Marcus & Millichap's Westchester office, facilitated the transaction. They represented both the seller and the buyer, who are private investors.
CoStar Market Manager Coleman Applegate contributed to this report.