Benjamin B. Cummings is a principal of Millennium Retail Partners, LLC, a real estate consulting firm with offices in Atlanta, Georgia, Boca Raton, Florida and Richmond, Virginia. Millennium provides advisory services to retailers and developers, including market strategy for retail stores, site selection, transactional negotiation and documentation and program and project management services.

From 1988 until 2001, Mr. Cummings was Vice President for Real Estate for Circuit City Stores, Inc.  His department was responsible for all of Circuit City’s real estate acquisitions for retail Superstores, corporate distribution facilities, offices and product service centers, lease administration and surplus property disposition, store and corporate facilities maintenance, energy management and real estate legal. He also served as Vice President of Real Estate for CarMax Auto Superstores, Inc., the country’s leading used car retailer and a former Circuit City affiliate, from its founding in 1993 until 2001. 

Prior to joining Circuit City in 1984, Mr. Cummings practiced law in the Richmond metropolitan area. He joined Circuit City as Real Estate Manager, with responsibility for the Mid-Atlantic region; in 1986 he became Director of Real Estate for the company and managed its West Coast expansion program.  He was promoted to Vice-President of Real Estate in 1988, in charge of all of the company’s real estate requirements during its years of rapid growth as a national retail chain. He participated in nearly $2 billion of sale-leaseback and similar financing transactions for Circuit City and Carmax.

Since 2002, as one of the founding partners of Millennium Retail Partners, LLC, Mr. Cummings has provided consulting, transactional and development services for BJ’s Wholesale Club, Inc., Dollar General Stores, Inc., Circuit City and several shopping center developers.  These assignments have included land acquisitions; lease negotiations, renewals and assignments; sale-leaseback financing transactions; and shopping center redevelopment strategy and execution. He was the Owner’s Representative for CarMax’s new 130-acre home office campus in Richmond, a LEED Silver-certified project.

Mr. Cummings is a New Jersey native and is a graduate of Washington & Lee University, Lexington, Virginia with B.A. and J.D. degrees.  He is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and served as its Virginia State Director from 1993 to 1995.  Mr. Cummings is a member of the Virginia State Bar, the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and the National Real Estate Advisory Council of The Trust for Public Land (TPL) and currently serves as Chair of TPL’s Chesapeake Region Advisory Council.