CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Wegmans, a large-format grocer based in Rochester, N.Y., plans to open a 110,000-square-foot grocery store at 11550 N. Community House Road in Charlotte on Wednesday, Oct. 14. The store is an anchor of Ballantyne, Northwood Investors’ 2,000-acre master-planned development on the south side of Charlotte adjacent to the South Carolina border. The store will feature all traditional Wegmans departments, including produce, seafood, meat, bakery, deli, cheese and wine and beer. Additional offerings will include Meals2Go and catering, online shopping capabilities, a floral shop, coffee and home goods. The store will also have a market café with indoor and outdoor seating for customers dining at one of Wegmans’ multiple food outlets. Wegmans has hired 450 associates to operate the new store, which is currently the southernmost store in Wegmans’ network.
DALTON, GA. — Atlantic Capital Partners has brokered the $18.2 million sale of Walnut Square, a 127,391-square-foot, newly constructed shopping center in Dalton, a North Georgia city near the Tennessee border. Fred Victor, Sam Koonce, Teddy Driscoll and Matt Austin of Atlantic Capital Partners represented the undisclosed seller in the transaction. The buyer was also not disclosed. Situated off Ga. Highway 52 near I-75, Walnut Square was 99 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Food City, Ross Dress for Less, Ulta Beauty, PetSmart, Bath & Body Works, AT&T, Kay Jewelers and Crumbl Cookies.
A lack of quality inventory is one of the prominent factors shaping the retail investment sales landscape. Simply put, there is more capital seeking retail opportunities than there are assets available for purchase, says Michael Marks, executive director of retail capital markets with Cushman & Wakefield in Chicago. Strong leasing activity and rising rents are bolstering investor confidence in the retail market, he adds. Amid historically low vacancy, U.S. retail asking rents grew 2.2 percent year-over-year to $25.65 per square foot triple net, according to Cushman & Wakefield’s second-quarter report. Structural supply constraints continue to support sustained rent growth, as the development pipeline represents less than 0.3 percent of existing inventory. Retail investors are firmly in acquisition mode, according to JLL’s second-quarter U.S. report. In the first half of the year, retail investment sales volume reached $33 billion, up 14 percent year-over-year and the strongest first half since 2022. Evan Lyons, executive vice president with West Bloomfield, Michigan-based Encore Real Estate Investment Services, poses the question — where does the next wave of inventory for transactions come from? “Some will come naturally through ownership transitions, partnership changes, fund lifecycles and other reasons investors need to sell,” predicts Lyons. “Debt maturities …
By Taylor Williams “People are still spending money.” That’s what Nick Skeparnias, principal at Agora Commercial Realty Partners, a full-service advisory and development firm, identifies as the single-biggest point of optimism about the state of the greater Philadelphia retail market. According to data from the U.S. Commerce Department, U.S. retail sales totaled roughly $774 billion in August, a 1.2 percent increase over the previous month. The Wall Street Journal also reports that spending in discretionary categories of retail, namely electronics and appliances, rose by 1.6 percent in August versus July. And according to both The Journal and Breitbart, the actual volume of retail sales in August exceeded economists’ expectations by anywhere from 40 to 70 basis points. Within Skeparnias’ simple, five-word declarative statement, there’s no question that “still” is the operative term. “Retail is only as good as the money that people have to spend on it,” he elaborates. “So when you consider the biggest concerns for this asset class, there’s nothing specific to retail itself, but issues that are more global. There’s always going to be something at the retail level; first it was e-commerce, then COVID-19. Now we have AI [artificial intelligence], and if that starts taking people’s …
CHICAGO — Newmark has arranged the $30 million sale of Block 37, a 277,654-square-foot trophy retail property located in downtown Chicago. Block 37 comprises five floors of retail space anchored by a mix of tenants including Zara, Sephora, AMC Theatres and The Dearborn, and a four-level underground parking garage. The property is situated within the larger Block 37 mixed-use development that also features residential and office towers. Keely Polczynski and Brian Schneiderman of Newmark represented the seller, CIM Group, in the transaction.
SAN MARCOS, TEXAS — Buc-ee’s has opened a 74,000-square-foot travel center in San Marcos, located roughly midway between Austin and San Antonio. The facility at 3245 N. I-35 features 128 fueling positions and is expected to account for the creation of more than 200 new jobs within the local economy. A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on Wednesday, Aug. 12. Buc-ee’s, which is based in the Houston area, now operates 36 travel centers throughout Texas.
FRANKLIN, TENN. — JLL Capital Markets has arranged the sale of Southside at McEwen, a 92,470-square-foot retail center located in Franklin, roughly 20 miles south of downtown Nashville. Jim Hamilton, Brad Buchanan and John Perry Hilton of JLL represented the seller, New York City-based Nuveen Real Estate, in the transaction. Dallas-based Lincoln Property Co. served as the investment advisor for the buyer, a high net-worth family office. The sales price was not disclosed. Whole Foods Market anchors Southside at McEwen, which was built in 2012 on approximately 10.5 acres. The fully leased center features a mix of additional tenants such as lululemon, Flower Child, Solidcore, BrickTop’s, Kendra Scott, Fab’rik and PNC Bank.
MIAMI — Two new anchor retail tenants have opened at Dadeland Station, a 350,000-square-foot, three-level retail power center located in Miami, just east of the Dadeland Mall. Burlington opened in August, followed by Marshalls in September. Together, the off-price retailers add approximately 62,000 square feet of leased space to the property. The new stores join a roster of additional tenants including Target, Best Buy, Michaels, PetSmart, Starbucks Coffee, Subway, Avis, Enterprise Rent-A-Car and Lan Pan-Asian Café. Berkowitz Development Group holds a 60 percent majority stake in Dadeland Station, managing and operating the property since its construction in 1996. The remaining 40 percent is privately held by investment partners.
Retail investment gained meaningful momentum during the first half of 2026, reflecting growing confidence in market fundamentals and long-term consumer demand. While the national vacancy rate sits at 6 percent, Louisville’s current vacancy rate for retail is at 3.9 percent, according to the “Q2 2026 Cushman & Wakefield National Retail Report.” The Louisville market continues to demonstrate many of the characteristics that retail investors value: established trade areas, strong grocery-anchored corridors, limited new construction and a growing number of national retailers making long-term commitments to the market. Retail real estate remains particularly strong in the eastern and northeastern portions of Louisville, with grocery-anchored space continuing to perform well. Cushman & Wakefield research also points to continued investment and new development taking shape across the market. Louisville has seen roughly $165 million in shopping center transactions close over a recent 12-month stretch, driven heavily by private capital and 1031 exchange buyers. The properties that consistently attract attention are those with strong visibility, established traffic patterns, durable tenancy and demographics that support long-term consumer spending. Publix reshapes map Perhaps the clearest example of where Louisville retail is heading is Publix. From an investment perspective, we believe the significance of Publix goes well …
RICHARDSON, TEXAS — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the sale of a 51,542-square-foot retail property in the northeastern Dallas suburb of Richardson. Known as Baybury Square Shopping Center, the 11-acre property consists of two multi-tenant centers and two freestanding buildings that were built in 1966. Baybury Square Shopping Center was 64 percent leased at the time of sale. Philip Levy and Scott Abeel of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, an out-of-state investor, in the transaction, and procured the buyer, a local developer. Both parties requested anonymity.
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