LOS ANGELES—A publicly traded REIT has purchased Bouquet Center, a 149,000-square-foot grocery-anchored retail center in the Santa Clarita, GlobeSt.com has learned exclusively. The details of the transaction were not disclosed, but we have learned from industry sources that Retail Opportunity Investment Corp. purchased the property for nearly $60. The sale price equates to $396 per square foot.
“Bouquet Center represented a unique opportunity to acquire the entire center including the anchors, shop tenants and pad buildings,” Ed Hanley, president of Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, tells GlobeSt.com. Hanley represented the seller in the transaction, along with SVP Kevin Fryman, and for confidentiality reasons was limited in what he could discuss about the sale.
Located at 26502-26586 Bouquet Canyon Road in Santa Clarita, the property is 95% occupied, with a Vons, CVS and Ross Dress for Less as the anchor tenants. The remaining tenants include Chase, Citibank, Wendy’s, Baskin Robbins, Jersey Mike’s Sub, Little Caesars Pizza and Payless ShoeSource. The property was built in 1985, but the previous owner spent $7 million in renovations at the property in 2007.
While the center has strong tenancy and is in good condition, the location really seemed to drive the investment decision. The property is located on an intersection where 85,000 cars pass each day, making it one of the busiest intersections in the city. “Santa Clarita, which is Los Angeles County’s third largest city, is an extremely attractive location for national and regional credit tenants due to strong residential growth and an affluent surrounding area,” Fryman tells GlobeSt.com about the market. “Bouquet Center benefits from the area’s strong demographics. Household income within three miles of the shopping center is $114,000. There are 226,000 people within a five-mile radius of the center.”
Recent news reports have shown REITs pulling back on acquisitions, especially with soaring prices. This sale, however, shows that REITs are still active in the market.