CHICAGO — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the $3.6 million sale of 1400 S. Michigan Ave., an 8,260-square-foot retail property in Chicago. The property sold at 92 percent of its original list price. Located in Chicago’s South Loop, the multitenant retail property is situated on the ground floor of a 455-unit luxury condominium tower. Tenants at the property include Waffles Chicago, Square One Bar and Sanctuary Music & Aesthetics audio design solutions. Sean Sharko, Alan Katamanin and Austin Weisenbeck of Marcus & Millichap’s Chicago Oak Brook office represented the seller and the buyer, both limited liability companies.
FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $5.8 million sale of Pine Crest Square, a 40,409-square-foot retail property located at 901-959 E. Cypress Creek Road in Fort Lauderdale. The property’s tenant roster includes Subway, Jiffy Lube and 7-Eleven. Douglas Mandel, Barry Wolfe and Alan Lipsky of Marcus & Millichap’s Fort Lauderdale office represented the seller, MPI/Pine Crest Square Inc., an affiliate of Milestone Properties. Greg Matus and Peter Crane of Franklin Street Real Estate Services represented the buyer, Pinecrest AP, a private real estate investor based in the Northeast.
READING, PA. — HFF has secured $17.7 million in financing for Spring Towne Shopping Center in Reading. HFF represented the borrower, Brandolini Cos., to secure a long-term, fixed-rate loan with an institutional quality insurance company. The loan will be used to refinance an existing mortgage on the property. Located at 2641-2679 Shillington Road, the four-building, 277,860-square-foot retail center is anchored by Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse and Giant. In addition to the anchor tenants, the center is more 97 percent occupied by H&R Block, UPS Store, Great Clips, Pet Valu, Subway, Fulton Bank, Monro Muffler & Brake, Hallmark and other local retailers. Ryan Ade and Christopher Bigos of HFF negotiated the financing on behalf of the borrower.
SMITHTOWN, N.Y. — Sovereign Realty Group has brokered the sale of a freestanding restaurant property located at 942 W. Jericho Turnpike in Smithtown. The 3,610-square-foot property sold for $2.6 million in an all-cash transaction. Burger King occupies the property under a long-term lease, which begin in late 2014. Frank Caporrino and Clem Cote of Sovereign Realty Group represented the buyer and seller, which were not disclosed.
The retail market as a whole is shifting to make shopping more experiential amid a recovering economy and the influence of millennials and their shopping demands and interests. Despite the buzz about the popularity of online shopping, less than 10 percent of all retail sales take place via the Internet. According to the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), online retail sales in 2013 were nearly $263 billion, accounting for a mere 6 percent of total retail sales. In-store sales accounted for the remaining $4.3 trillion, according to the U.S. Commerce Department. It’s clear that while some consumers find online shopping convenient, the majority still prefer the shopping center experience. In particular, millennials, who are 74 million strong with a buying power of $174 billion, demand that experience. Last fall, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group forecast that 89 percent of millennials would shop at a mall over the holidays. Surprisingly, millennials use technology to conduct research about products, but they generally prefer to visit stores to make purchases. Millennials will read product reviews online but they want to touch the merchandise, feel it, experience it and then tweet about it to friends. So, while the entire shopping process revolves around technology, …
TACOMA, WASH., AND SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Donahue Schriber Realty Group has picked up two retail assets in Washington for a total of $67 million. The buy includes Lakeland Town Center, a 125,142-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Auburn, a suburb just northeast of Tacoma, and Westgate North, a 128,630-square-foot shopping center in Tacoma. Lakeland Town Center is occupied by notable tenants like Haggen Northwest Fresh, Starbucks, McDonald’s, Subway and Verizon. It is situated along Lake Tapps Parkway. Westgate North is anchored by Safeway and Ace Hardware. Additional tenants like Chase Bank, Round Table Pizza, KeyBank and Anytime Fitness round out the roster. These acquisitions follow on the heels of two additional retail purchases in California. Donahue also recently acquired Village Oaks Shopping Center, a 320,000-square-foot center in San Jose that is anchored by Target and Safeway, and Gilman District, a 91,300-square-foot center in Berkeley that is anchored by Whole Foods Market.
SAN DIEGO – Sabre Springs Plaza, a 15,038-square-foot retail center in San Diego, has sold to Capstone Advisors for $4.5 million. The center is located at the intersection of Poway Road and Springbrook Drive. The core-plus asset is anchored by 7-Eleven. Capstone plans to make capital improvements to the landscaping and parking lot, among other things. The unnamed seller was represented by Pat Toomey and Kyle Mathews of Colliers International. Financing was provided by Silvergate Bank.
NEW YORK CITY — Eastern Consolidated has arranged the sale of a multiple-property portfolio, known as the Lee Estate Portfolio, for $107 million. Spanning Brooklyn, Manhattan and Ulster County, N.Y., the portfolio consists of 17 retail and residential properties in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which were acquired by L3 Capital LLC and ASB Real Estate Investments; a grocery store on Linden Boulevard in East New York; a three-story residential building in East Williamsburg; a co-op apartment on the Upper East Side; and a 108-acre site in Ulster County. Adelaide Polsinelli and Benjamin Tapper of Eastern Consolidated represented the seller, Lee Estate, and procured the buyers in the multi-faceted transactions. Additionally, Chris Matousek of Eastern Consolidated served as analyst for the transaction, and Roy Martin of Hodgson Russ Attorneys was the attorney for seller.
LILBURN, GA. — Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. (Wheeler REIT) has purchased Beaver Ruin Village, a 74,038-square-foot shopping center located at the intersection of Beaver Ruin Road and U.S. Route 29 in Lilburn, a suburb of Atlanta. The Virginia Beach-based REIT purchased the center for $12.4 million, or approximately $166.81 per square foot, using a combination of cash and bank debt. The shopping center was 94.9 percent leased to tenants such as Chase Bank, State Farm Insurance, T-Mobile, Firehouse Subs and Sally Beauty Supplies. The property also features three outparcels leased to McDonald’s, Popeyes and Captain D’s.
CULLMAN, ALA. — Birmingham-based Merchants Retail Partners (MRP) has signed Ross Dress for Less and Ulta Beauty to join the tenant roster at Cullman Shopping Center, a 325,000-square-foot center in Cullman. MRP has also signed The U.S. Department of Labor Career Center to occupy a renovated 8,000-square-foot outparcel building. The 22,000-square-foot Ross Dress for Less and 10,000-square-foot Ulta will join Publix, PetSmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Belk and Books-A-Million at the expanded Cullman Shopping Center. Publix, Dick’s and Ulta are slated to open in late 2015; Ross and PetSmart are slated to open in early 2016; and the career center is slated to open in early summer 2015.