EDENS Buys Eight-Property West Coast Retail Portfolio
The acquisition marks the firm’s expansion on the West Coast and strategy to build a strong presence from San Diego to Seattle.
Retail investor EDENS has acquired an eight-property retail portfolio on the West Coast. The acquisition marks the firm’s expansion in the region, and its intention to build a pipeline of opportunities from San Diego to Seattle, according to Jami Passer, Chief Investment Officer of EDENS. With this deal, the company has a portfolio of more than 14 million square feet.
The eight properties are located in Los Angeles, San Diego, the Bay Area and Seattle. The acquisition includes Alamo Plaza Shopping Center in San Francisco; Bonita Center in San Diego; Callens Corner in Los Angeles; Gilman District in San Francisco; Lakeland Town Center in Seattle; Rocklin Commons in Sacramento; Village Oaks in San Francisco; and Westgate North in Seattle.
EDENS is focused on properties that generate meaningful weekly trips and dwell time, driven by to high human engagement. The properties within its portfolio are “thriving retail destinations, driving impressions and market sales while effectively serving as public realms for social interaction and community engagement,” according to the firm.
Retail was among the asset classes most disrupted by the pandemic, but it has emerged an investor favorite. Daily needs-anchored retail shopping centers and regional power centers proved to be resilient through the last two challenging years, and retail is available at much more attractive cap rates than other asset classes that performed well through the pandemic, like multifamily and industrial, according to expert Ben Snyder, EVP and national director of shopping centers at Matthews Real Estate Investment Services.
Experts at ICSC in Las Vegas last December echoed the sentiment, which some reporting that retail activity last year up 13.5% over 2020. This deal by EDENS is one example of that, but there have already been several major deals this year on the West Coast. Deka Immobilien acquired a single-tenant retail property in Santa Monica for $54.25 million from Tooley Interests LLC. The 29,064-square-foot property is fully occupied by a Whole Foods grocery story. Deka Immobilien acquired the property through its fund Deka-ImmobilienNordamerika, and the transaction is its second purchase on the West Coast.