Shoprite building at Vista tech park sold

Slingerlands grocery to continue at location despite new ownership

The building at the Vista Technology Campus in Slingerlands where the Shoprite supermarket is located was sold earlier this year to a group of New Jersey investors for $18.5 million.

That’s about $600,000 less than the previous owner, a New York City real estate firm, paid to acquire the building in 2012 from the builder when the Shoprite first opened its doors.

Although the sale of the Shoprite building might raise some alarms, the real estate transaction is pretty common, especially during the pandemic when real estate values in certain areas of the country have done better than others and the habits of shoppers and employers have drastically changed amid government mandates intended to keep COVID -19 infection rates from spiraling out of control.

Dr. Rupan Trikha, an ophthalmologist whose practice is located just north of Newark, N.J., leads a group of investors who purchased the Shoprite building in January from affiliates of a New York City real estate firm, AAG Management.

Trikha and his investor group purchased the building with the understanding that Shoprite, which has a long-term lease, will continue operating at the Slingerlands location. The Bethlehem Industrial Development Agency, which granted the original developers of the site longterm tax breaks, signed off on the sale last December with the understanding the supermarket would continue operations and the lease would remain in effect.

“Everything is going to stay the same,” Sarah Lewis Belcher, an attorney representing Trikha’s investment group, told the IDA.

There was reason for Bethlehem residents to be worried about the sale of the Shoprite building.

The Vista Technology Campus, a major economic development initiative of the town

more than a decade ago, has been a failure in achieving its mission of attracting technology companies. Instead, there have been only restaurants, banks, retail and doctors offices that have located at the development, located off Route 85.

The one tech company that decided to move there was Monolith Solar, a Rensselaer company that started construction of a new headquarters building at Vista but stopped after putting up a steel frame when it ran into financial problems. The steel frame still stands at Vista, an eyesore at the least and a safety concern.

Officials with Shoprite did not return a call seeking comment on the Slingerlands store.

The roundabout at the back of the Vista business park near where Monolith started constructing its building has since been blocked off to traffic, with “Dead End” signs installed.

Town officials did not immediately respond to questions why the roadway had been blocked.