The properties are located in the Maryland and Northern Virginia communities that are considered veritable suburbs of Washington, DC. In Virginia, Edens & Avant bought four shopping centers, including the 84,300-sf Cardinal Forest Plaza in Springfield; the 76,600-sf Elden Street Marketplace in Herndon; the 86,600-sf Lake Ridge Commons in Lake Ridge, and Manassas's 109,600-sf Wellington Station property, which is in store for a second phase of development that will add 120,000 sf. Edens & Avant's purchases in Maryland consist of the 130,000-sf Burtonsville Crossing in Burtonsville, the 81,500-sf Marlboro Crossroads in Upper Marlboro, and the 102,700-sf Neelsville Village Center in Germantown.

"The acquisition of these centers significantly expands Edens & Avant's platform of Necessity Retail Centers in the Washington DC MSA where we are an active developer and strategic acquirer," company president and chief investment officer Jodie W. McLean tells GlobeSt.com. Edens & Avant is the largest private owner of grocery-store anchored retail properties in the US. "All of these are great-performing Giant Food-stores in locations with strong fundamentals such as household income, growth and population density. This boosts the total number of our Mid-Atlantic assets to 36."