A subsidiary of Forest City Enterprises Inc. sold the Shops at Grand Avenue, a 100,000-square-foot community shopping center in Queens, N.Y., to an affiliate of AEW Capital Management LP for $33.5 million. The transaction featured a cap rate of approximately 7.75 percent on in-place income and generated $9.4 million in proceeds. Shops at Grand Avenue opened in 1997 and is anchored by a Stop & Shop supermarket.
"We have always been an active seller of real estate from our portfolio," Charles A. Ratner, president and CEO of Forest City, said in a statement. "Today, selective sales, joint ventures and other structures are part of our strategy to generate liquidity in response to current economic and financial market conditions. As this transaction demonstrates, our high-quality properties in strong markets continue to attract buyer interest, even in a down market."
According to a spokesman for the company, Forest City felt the Shops at Grand Avenue would be a good candidate for a sale because it was a solid, income-producing property in a market with high barriers to entry, but was not considered a core asset for Forest City. As a result, the company was able to sell the center at a profit in spite of a challenging market environment.
In the first quarter of the year, sales of retail properties in the Northeast averaged a price of $590 per square foot, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York City-based research firm. The figure was at least $200 per square foot higher than in any other region in the country.
Other Notable Deals
Nationwide Life Insurance Co. sold four performing first mortgage commercial loans with a face value of approximately $31 million to two institutional investors. The loans were secured by retail centers and multifamily properties in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Utah. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP represented Nationwide Life Insurance in the transaction…. Cedar Shopping Centers Inc. sold a triple net leased, three-acre property in Medina, Ohio for $1.3 million. The transaction represents a 6.0 percent cap rate on in-place net rental income. The property contains two buildings, occupied by McDonald’s and Waffle House restaurants on a triple net lease basis. The property was part of a 25-center package acquired by Cedar Shopping Centers in 2005…. Urban Retail Properties LLC has been appointed as the property management and leasing agent for Stones River Mall, a 671,000-squuare-foot regional mall in Murfreesboro, Tenn. The center was built in 1992 and underwent a full interior renovation and open-air lifestyle expansion in 2008…. Regency Centers sold an acre of land at Culpeper Colonnade, a271,032-square-foot shopping center in Culpeper, Va. to SunTrust Bank. The buyer plans to build a bank branch location on the property...