Orange County retail pricing is at all-time highs. The Aliso Creek Shopping Center in Laguna Beach has set a new price-per-square-foot record for a grocery-anchored retail property in Orange County. LaSalle Investment Management sold the 49,149-square-foot, fully leased community shopping center on Pacific Coast Highway. While final sales price was not disclosed, the deal is indicative of the strong pricing trends and demand for retail properties in Orange County.

"The irreplaceable coastal location, strong tenant sales and scale in a market with limited opportunities," Gleb Lvovich, a managing director at JLL that represented the seller in the deal, tells GlobeSt.com. "Properties like this don't trade very often, and in fact, the last trade of this size in Laguna Beach for retail was this property over 20 years ago." JLL managing director Bryan Ley and director Daniel Tyner also represented the seller.

The retail market has seen a sharp decrease in activity this cycle because of a consumer preference to buy goods online—which also led to the shuttering of several national brands—however Orange County has continued to see healthy demand from investors for retail product. "Orange County is one of the strongest retail markets in Southern California and the West Coast," says Lvovich. "We have great incomes and density, which is exactly what retailers want. We're seeing the most interest in grocery/drug-anchored shopping centers and strip/street retail."