DRA Advisors JV Buys New Jersey Grocery-Anchored Portfolio
A fund managed by DRA Advisors, in conjunction with Soundwater Properties, has acquired a three-property, 376,462-square-foot shopping center portfolio in Ocean County, N.J. Each center is anchored by a ShopRite store. Pasbjerg Development Co., which had developed and managed the properties, sold them in a transaction arranged by CBRE.
The portfolio comprises Bay Plaza at 860 Fischer Blvd. in Toms River, Jackson Plaza at 260 N. County Line Road in Jackson Township, and Lacey Mall at 344 US-9 in Lacey Township. The properties were 94 percent leased at the time of sale.
READ ALSO: Shopping Changed Dramatically. Retail Design Is One Step Ahead.
At 173,988 square feet, Lacey Mall is the largest center of the three assets. In addition to ShopRite, it has national tenants such as T.J. Maxx, Mattress Firm, Firestone, Hand & Stone, UPS, Dollar Tree, Dunkin’, Popeyes and Verizon Wireless.
The 114,753-square-foot Jackson Plaza was completed in 2002 and features national retail tenants AT&T, Advance Auto Parts and McDonald’s. Bay Plaza was built in 1994 and totals 87,721 square feet.
Eastman Cos. will lead property management, accounting and construction functions for the portfolio. The three locations see more than 5 million annual visits combined and the median family incomes in their respective trade areas are more than $130,000.
The CBRE National Retail Partners Mid-Atlantic team of Chris Munley, Colin Behr, Ryan Sciullo, Casey Smith, RJ Mirabile and Michael Pascavis marketed the properties and represented the seller. Behr said, in prepared remarks, that the tenant tenure averages 25-plus years and 80 percent of the portfolio’s income derives from national and credit tenants.
Undeniable progress
At the ICSC Las Vegas conference this past May, multiple attendees told Commercial Property Executive that the retail sector is in better shape than it has been in years.
“This is the first time people are saying ‘optimistic’ without putting ‘cautious’ in front of it,” Kristin Mueller, president of JLL’s Retail Property Business, told CPE.
Daniel Taub, national director of Marcus & Millichap’s Retail Division and Net Lease Division, said, “You have now been experiencing 10-plus years of very little to no net new development; therefore, existing retail real estate has become more valuable, because there’s less new product.”
That upbeat tone was reinforced in August, with the release of JLL’s second-quarter U.S. retail outlook. The report tallied a surge in retail net absorption of 75.4 percent quarter-over-quarter to 7.7 million square feet, most notably in community centers, lifestyle centers and Class C malls.
The post DRA Advisors JV Buys New Jersey Grocery-Anchored Portfolio appeared first on Commercial Property Executive.
