Casey Rosen and Dennis Carson, both SVPs at CB Richard Ellis, together with Debra Ramey of the Shopping Center Group, represented the seller. Located at the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Bland Boulevard, Jefferson Commons is part of the Patrick Henry Mall concentration of retail, Rosen tells GlobeSt.com. "There are a large number of shopping centers located around Jefferson Avenue, which runs north-south through Newport News." He calls the strip the city's retail corridor.

Despite the high concentration of similar product nearby, Rosen says that Jefferson Commons will have little difficulty leasing up the remaining 5% or so vacancies in the center. "We have surveyed competing centers in the area and found there is a less than 2% vacancy rate in the market," he says. Also, he adds, there are currently a number of tenants negotiating for space. Demand for space is particularly high, according to Rosen, because Jefferson Commons has been designed as a lifestyle retail center.

Jefferson Commons is anchored by Ross Dress for Less, TJ Maxx, Off Broadway Shoe Warehouse, Trader Joe's, and Petco. Other national tenants include Starbucks, Panera Bread, Ulta, Lane Bryant and Chili's. The property is also anchored by Kohl's, which was not included in the sale or in the 306,249 sf reported in the deal, Rosen says, because the retailer owns the building and the land.