IRVINE, CA-Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, based here, said it sees remarkably increased retail transaction activity already in 2012. The company is coming off a year of selling 40 properties for more than $225 million, and said three weeks into the new year it’s already looking at a pipeline of $200 million worth of sites.
Ed Hanley, president of the firm, said key sales in 2011 included the sale of an 87,000-square-foot retail/office complex in South Lake District in Pasadena, CA for $21 million, eight strip centers in Inland Empire for $19 million, five Southern California Walgreens stores for $36 million
Investors were starved for a competitive return on investments, he tells GlobeSt.com. Hanley says cap rate compression in Class A credit single-tenant and grocery-anchored shopping center product has already begun, and he expects the compression to shift into shadow-anchored and Class B product as the retail fundamentals continue to recover.
“We see much more activity coming in 2012, barring life-changing events,” Hanley says, “driven by investors who believe we are at or near the bottom. Demand wasn’t fully met last year, and I think demand will be there again this year, and supply is going to increase as well.”
The lack of quality properties and aggressive pricing in infill California markets will continue to push Hanley to work with local investors who want to acquire shopping centers in other state, Hanley says. The company sold 11 properties outside of the state in 2011, including an $11.6 million sale of a community shopping center in Oklahoma City, OK.