HOUSTON — Marcus & Millichap has brokered the $7.4 million sale of Gessner Plaza, a 51,400-square-foot retail center located at 8703 W. Bellfort St. in southwest Houston. Derek Hargrove and Riley Sharman of Marcus & Millichap represented the seller, a Houston-based partnership, in the transaction. The buyer was not disclosed.
LOS ANGELES — Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Weiss Development has completed the sale of a four-property retail portfolio located in Los Angeles’ Northridge and South Bay neighborhoods. A mix of private and institutional investors acquired the portfolio for $35 million. Totaling more than 65,400 square feet, the properties include a Petco-occupied asset in Northridge and a Petco-occupied, an Office Depot-occupied and a multi-tenant property in South Bay. Tenants at the multi-tenant property include Starbucks Coffee, Subway, Flame Broiler and Sushi Boy. Bill Bauman, Kyle Miller and Dan Samulski of Newmark Knight Frank represented the seller in the transaction.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, CALIF. — CBRE has arranged $25.9 million in debt financing Palm Beach, Fla.-based Sterling Organization’s acquisition of North Ranch Gateway, a retail center in Westlake Village. The vertically integrated private equity real estate firm purchased the 86,520-square-foot property for $35 million in 2018 on behalf of its managed funds. Located at 30805-30895 Thousand Oaks Blvd., the property is anchored by TJ Maxx and was 78 percent occupied at the closing of financing. Shaun Moothart, Dana Summers, Bruce Francis, Bob Ybarra and Doug Birrell of CBRE’s Debt and Structured Finance team arranged the floating-rate financing.
BOURBONNAIS, ILL. — Marcus & Millichap has arranged the sale of a 6,200-square-foot retail property in Bourbonnais for $2.5 million. The building is fully leased to Five Guys, Firehouse Subs and Lacey’s Place. Located at 1609-1617 N. State Route 50, approximately 54 miles south of Chicago, the property is a newly constructed outparcel to the Water Town Plaza shopping center. Austin Weisenbeck and Sean Sharko of Marcus & Millichap marketed the property on behalf of the seller. A California-based buyer purchased the asset.
By Philip D. Voorhees, Vice Chairman, CBRE During more than 730 retail investment transactions in the Western U.S. totaling more than $11 billion, we’ve identified some sure-fire ways to make an already tough retail investment sale transaction even more challenging. Our pain is your gain. In the cases below, we’re giving you the test after the lessons! 1. Move Slowly, and Lack Urgency. Nothing kills a retail investment sale transaction like a lack of urgency. All too often, sellers fail to have a Purchase and Sale Agreement (PSA) ready when an agreement is reached on the Letter of Intent (LOI), subsequently squandering a week or two while their attorney completes the draft PSA. It can also be difficult to circle the partners to obtain consensus on the next action step if you don’t have a “point” person designated as the lead for a partnership. Sellers will oftentimes mirror slow PSA comment turnaround times from a buyer, assuming the stance that, “if the buyer is slow, we’ll take our time, too.” This makes no sense: Eyes on the prize, sellers! Solutions: • Approve template LOI/counter proposal and PSA drafts early in the marketing process. • Put legal counsel on standby when …
AUGUSTA, GA. — The Palomar Group has arranged the $15 million sale of a single-tenant Walmart Supercenter in Augusta. The 217,068-square-foot property is situated within Village Plaza shopping center, located about five miles from Augusta National Golf Club. Palomar Group represented the seller, a national real estate investment group, in the transaction. Jordan Trotter Commercial represented the 1031 exchange buyer.
SPRING AND CLUTE, TEXAS — Houston-based investment firm Williamsburg Enterprises has purchased two retail centers totaling 178,977 square feet in metro Houston. The assets include Klein Square, an 80,836-square-foot property located in the northern suburb of Spring, and Plantation Plaza, a 98,141-square-foot property located in Clute, about 55 miles south of Houston. Williamsburg plans to renovate the properties, which were both less than 50 percent occupied at the time of sale, during the first half of 2019. The seller was Brixmor Property Group.
WOODBURY, MINN. — Inland Retail Property Fund LP has purchased the fully leased retail component of the CityPlace mixed-use project in Woodbury, located about 20 miles east of Minneapolis. Whole Foods Market anchors the retail center. Amy Sands, Clinton Mitchell, Daniel Finkle and Jules Sherwood of HFF represented the seller, Elion Partners, which redeveloped the former State Farm regional corporate headquarters into CityPlace. The 184,711-square-foot retail portion of the project was completed in 2016 and 2017. In addition to Whole Foods, tenants include Nordstrom Rack, Sierra Trading Post, La-Z-Boy Furniture, Sur La Table, Verizon Wireless, Cycle Bar and Potbelly Sandwich Works. Timothy Joyce, Elliott Throne and Jason Bond of HFF arranged a 10-year, fixed-rate acquisition loan through Guardian Life Insurance Company of America.
WILMETTE, ILL. — Newport Capital Partners has purchased Edens Plaza in Wilmette for $72 million. Built in 1956 and redeveloped in 1994, the 183,000-square-foot shopping center is located on Lake Avenue. The property is 92 percent leased to tenants such as Fresh Market, Starbucks, Walgreens, Bed Bath & Beyond, The Great Escape and Big Blue Swim School. A pediatric care center, which will be jointly run by NorthShore University HealthSystem and Advocate Health Care, is expected to open this year and backfill 35,000 square feet at the former Carson’s Furniture Gallery space at the property. Ben Greazel and Joel Simmons of Newmark Knight Frank arranged debt financing for the transaction through LoanCore Capital.
LEE’S SUMMIT, MO. — Block & Co. Inc. Realtors has arranged the sale of Valle Vista shopping center in Lee’s Summit for an undisclosed price. The property sits on 5.4 acres on the southwest corner of 291 Highway and Chipman Road. Tenants at the fully occupied property include IHOP, Celsius Tannery, Ted’s Café Escondido, Vintage Stock and Five Guys. David Block and Max DiCarlo of Block represented the buyer, LS Valle Vista 2018 LLC. Block & Co. will handle leasing and property management for the new owner. Block Real Estate Services represented the seller.