TA Realty Acquires $390M Grocery-Anchored Retail Portfolio

BOSTON, MA – TA Realty has acquired a nine-property, grocery-anchored retail portfolio for $390 million from privately-held commercial real estate manager Gravestar.

The properties total 729,437 square feet across greater Boston, MA and Providence, RI.

The 95%-leased portfolio is occupied by grocery-anchor tenants, such as Whole Foods Market, Shaw’s, Star Market and Dave’s Fresh Marketplace.

Eight of the assets are located in Massachusetts and one asset is located in Rhode Island. The properties include Auburndale Plaza in Newton, MA; Brookline Plaza in Brookline, MA; Horn Pond Plaza in Woburn, MA; Norwood Plaza in Norwood, MA; Porter Square Shopping Center in Cambridge, MA; Sudbury Plaza in Sudbury, MA; Waltham Plaza in Waltham, MA; Wellesley Plaza in Wellesley, MA; and Pontiac Avenue Plaza in Cranston, RI.

Newmark’s Boston capital markets group, including co-head of US capital markets Robert Griffin, vice chairman Geoffrey Millerd and managing directors Jonathan Martin and Paul Penman, represented the seller and procured the buyer for the transaction.

“This portfolio represented a generational opportunity—the first-time offering of the highest-quality, privately-owned collection of shopping centers in New England,” says Millerd. “Phenomenal investor demand for this portfolio underscores the strength of the market for premier supermarket-anchored retail assets in New England.”

Millerd adds, “We are extremely pleased with the portfolio sale to TA Realty, a respected Boston-based institutional investor that is working with Wilder, a creative, experienced and community-oriented retail operator.”

“The supermarket anchors are complemented by a mix of high-quality junior anchor tenants, convenience retailers and prized local tenants,” states Penman. “This tenant mix, and in particular the longstanding local operators at each center, has established the properties as highly-popular retail destinations.”

“These assets serve as focal points within their respective communities,” says Martin. “The seller has been meticulous in its maintenance of the assets and has consistently invested in the centers, enabling them to accommodate evolving shopper demands and community needs. The seller was very focused on finding a successor ownership team that would be committed to the stewardship of the centers and would make a positive contribution to the surrounding communities.”

Newmark’s managing director Mathew Adler provided additional support, and executive managing director Richard Ruggiero acted as the local broker for the Rhode Island transaction. The firm’s senior financial analyst Casey O’Brien and financial analyst Coley Cannon provided financial analysis support for the transaction.