LOS ANGELES—An unnamed New York-based investor has acquired Seasons Place, a 78,956-square-foot shopping center, for $43 million from an undisclosed seller. Located at 18558 E. Gale Ave. in the City of Industry, the property is nearly fully occupied at the time of the sale. It traded hands at a cap rate of 5.15%.

“The Buyer wanted great visibility as well as ownership in San Gabriel Valley and an Asian-infused market,” Geri Delrosario, an associate at Sperry Commercial who represented the buyer in the transaction, tells GlobeSt.com, adding that the buyer will continue daily operations and has no renovations planned. Delrosario represented the buyer along with Sperry SVP Jim Resha, CCIM.

The property was purchased as the upleg in a 1031 exchange valued at $10 million. To avoid a competition with other buyers, Delrosario looked specifically for off-market properties, and was involved in several negotiations with different properties, all in the $40 million price range. “The seller had no intentions of selling before the offer was submitted. These types of transactions occur primarily on relationship-based off-market,” says Delrosario.

According to industry sources, the shopping center has 3,441 square feet of space available for lease. The estimated rents for the center are $2.75 per square foot. Major tenants currently occupying the center include Seasons Seafood Restaurant and Jazz Cat.

The Asian-targeted retail tenants in the shopping were a big draw for the buyer, and according to Delrosario, that is because the Chinese demographic is growing in this submarket. “The trend in the San Gabriel Valley has heightened the Chinese culture influence that it's headed to be the largest China Town in the US,” she says. “This is one of our primary target areas.” Investors have been looking for demographic-driven retail tenants in shopping centers recently. Earlier this week, another investor, Loja Real Estate LLC, recently purchased a shopping center in Oxnard because of the center's Hispanic-targeted retail tenants that can serve the growing Hispanic demographic in the Oxnard market.