NORTH HAVEN, CONN. — New Jersey-based financial intermediary Cronheim Mortgage has arranged a $23.5 million permanent loan for North Haven Pavilion, a 148,277-square-foot shopping center located north of New Haven. Tenants at North Haven Pavilion include Michaels, Wendy’s and Hartford Healthcare. Dev Morris, David Poncia, Allison Villamagna and Andrew Stewart of Cronheim Mortgage arranged the financing on behalf of the borrower, a subsidiary of National Realty & Development Corp., which originally developed the center in 2004. The loan carried a 10-year term and a 30-year amortization schedule.
Memphis has seen a tight retail market for quality space and development opportunities since the COVID-19 pandemic. Our market sits at a 3.5 percent vacancy rate, according to CoStar Group analytics, and overall retail leasing activity is strong. Memphis has benefitted from a consumer base that is ready to return to the pre-pandemic rhythms of life. Retail sales have been healthy overall, with strong increases in sales of restaurants, particularly restaurants with a drive-thru. Rents for high-demand space have increased accordingly given the lack of quality opportunities for new-to-market or expanding retailers. Investment sales activity has been steady with an average cap rate around 7 percent, according to CoStar. Well-located and stable shopping centers are trading lower. A handful of high-profile institutional assets are either on the market or about to hit the market, and we expect those to trade at sub-7 percent cap rates. Ford Motors and SK Innovation’s new electronic vehicle (EV) and battery production facility in Stanton, Tenn., (25 miles east of Memphis) is anticipated to have a positive impact on the local economy. The $5.6 billion mega campus, called Blue Oval City, will add around 5,700 new jobs at its plant, with several more thousands indirectly …
OKLAHOMA CITY — JLL has negotiated the sale of 240 Penn Park, a 241,831-square-foot retail power center in Oklahoma City. Built on 22.2 acres in 2006, the center was 99 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants such as Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, Michaels, PetSmart, Best Buy, Saltgrass, Lane Bryant, Five Below, Charleston’s Restaurant and GNC. Ryan Shore, Chris Gerard, Greyson Fewin and Pauli Kerr of JLL represented the seller, a partnership between New York-based DRA Advisors and private investment group RCG Ventures, in the transaction. Locally based investment firm Mazaheri Properties acquired the asset for an undisclosed price.
MODESTO, CALIF. — Faris Lee Investments has brokered the purchase of The Promenade Shopping Center, a community retail center in Modesto. A Modesto-based private family office acquired the property from an ownership group managed by Los Altos-based West Valley Properties for $25 million. Located at 3501 McHenry Ave., the 118,485-square-foot property was fully occupied at the time of sale. Current tenants include Ross Dress for Less, Barnes & Noble, AutoZone, Skechers, Hallmark, Cold Stone Creamery and Subway. Alexander Moore, Sean Cox and Don MacLellan of Faris Lee Investments represented the buyer in the transaction.
GLENDORA, CALIF. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of Royal Palms Apartments & Professional Building, a mixed-use property located at 618-620 W. Route 66 in Glendora. A limited liability company sold the asset to an undisclosed buyer for $14.2 million. Totaling 43,292 square feet, Royal Palms Apartments & Professional Building features 28 commercial suites and 48 apartments with studio and one-bedroom floor plans. The building was built in 1962. Douglas McCauley and David Covarrubias of Marcus & Millichap’s Inland Empire office represented the seller in the transaction.
HOUSTON — Locally based development and management firm Levcor has welcomed three new tenants to Post Oak Plaza in Uptown Houston. Fitness concept Body20 has opened a 1,995-square-foot studio, and Australian-inspired coffee shop Bluestone Lane has signed a lease for 1,405 square feet with plans to launch this fall. In addition, B/S/H Experience & Design Center, a luxury appliance showroom, has committed to 14,777 square feet for its first Texas location. That opening is also slated for the fall.
OVIEDO, FLA. — JLL has arranged the sale of Oviedo Park Crossing, a 186,212-square-foot shopping center located roughly 16 miles northeast of Orlando in Oviedo. The open-air property was fully leased at the time of sale to tenants including Bed Bath & Beyond, T.J. Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, Michaels, Office Depot, PetSmart, Shoe Carnival, Sally Beauty Supply, America’s Best Contacts and Phenix Salon Suites. Situated on 29 acres at 1115 Vidina Place, the shopping center was completed in 1999 and renovated in 2019. The seller and sales price were not disclosed, but SITE Centers Corp.’s second-quarter results disclosed an affiliate sold the asset for $28 million. Brad Peterson and Whitaker Leonhardt of JLL represented the seller in the transaction. Tamer Iskander with Tivoli Cove Capital represented the buyer, a group of Orlando-based private investors, in the deal.
MILTON, FLA. — Branch Properties has signed two restaurants to join the tenant roster at Merganser Commons at Dogwood Estates, a 66,912-square-foot shopping center under construction in Milton, a Florida Panhandle city located about 24 miles east of Pensacola. The Atlanta-based developer plans to open the Publix-anchored center later this summer. The new eateries joining Merganser Commons include RibCrib, a fast-casual barbecue restaurant that will occupy 4,750 square feet, and Teriyaki Madness, an Asian concept. Both restaurants are operated by Panhandle Restaurant Group. The center is currently 92 percent preleased to tenants including Domino’s Pizza, Great Clips, Japanese restaurant Nikko Sushi, nail salon Grand Nail Lounge and ice cream shop Scoops Ice Cream and Sweets. A local medical provider will occupy a 7,500-square-foot outparcel at the center.
PITTSBURGH — Chicago-based investment firm Syndicated Equities has sold Plaza at the Pointe, a 149,973-square-foot shopping center in Pittsburgh. At the time of sale, the property was leased to tenants such as Bed Bath & Beyond, La-Z-Boy, Party City, Old Navy, Dress Barn and Bob’s Discount Furniture. The buyer was not disclosed. Syndicated Equities originally acquired the property in partnership with Chicago-based owner-operator M & J Wilkow in 2016 for $24.5 million.
By Brent Glodowski, director, capital markets group, Avison Young Conditions are looking up for retail real estate investment in New York City. In one sense, “up” is the only way to go for a sector that has been bumping along the bottom of a trough. But with inflation tempering investors’ recent fascination with multifamily and industrial properties, retail also offers opportunities to acquire price-corrected assets when those other property types hover near cyclical peaks. Retail’s Head Start New York’s retail real estate market was already suffering from changing consumer tendencies when COVID-19 arrived and thrust many retailers and their landlords into a full-blown crisis. Even when government-ordered shutdowns eased, remote work policies drained office buildings of the customer bases that had supported swaths of restaurants, shops and entertainment businesses. Home-bound workers became a redistributed daytime population, shifting demand for meal delivery and other retail to new areas. Hundreds of small businesses went under, leaving vacant storefronts in their wake. Some retailers altered business plans to serve shifting customer bases that had developed new, pandemic-influenced consumption practices. Landlords with vacancies to fill turned to traditional strategies, such as relocating tenants from out-of-the-way spaces to fill their most visible storefronts. Property owners …