SSG Realty Partners, a full-service real estate partnership specializing in the investment, development, leasing, management and brokerage of commercial and mixed-use properties, and Hanley Investment Group Real Estate Advisors, a nationally recognized real estate brokerage and advisory firm specializing in retail property sales, announced today that the two firms arranged the sale of Westwood Plaza, a 69,909-square-foot, 100%-occupied regional shopping center in Great Falls, Montana. The center is anchored by TJ Maxx, Staples, Dollar Tree, ULTA Beauty and Mattress Firm, and shadow-anchored by Sam’s Club, Ace Hardware, and North 40 Outfitters.
Greg Swedelson and Jon-Eric Greene of SSG Realty Partners, with offices in Park City, Utah, and Los Angeles, along with Hanley Investment Group’s Bill Asher and Beau Velten, based in Corona del Mar, California, and Scott Reid of ParaSell, Inc., represented the seller, a private investor from northern Michigan. The buyer, Jack Braha of Apollo Acquisitions and Management, a New York-based private investment firm that primarily focuses on top-performing, off-price power centers, was self-represented.
Swedelson highlighted, “Westwood Plaza is the third-ranked shopping center in Montana (per Placer.ai) and is surrounded by high-performing complementary national tenants that generate significant daily customer traffic and draw from a large regional trade area.”
Built in 2017, Westwood Plaza is located at 135-209 Northwest Bypass in Great Falls. The center is situated at the signalized intersection of Northwest Bypass and 3rd Street Northwest with nearly 51,000 cars per day. TJ Maxx (NYSE: TJX; S&P: A) has been a tenant at Westwood Plaza since 2015 and is among the top 20% performing TJ Maxx stores in Montana. Staples (NYSE: SPLS) has a 20-year operating history at Westwood Plaza and recently exercised its five-year option, demonstrating its continued commitment to the location. This is the chain’s best-performing store in Montana. Dollar Tree (NYSE: DLTR) has been a tenant at Westwood Plaza since 2005 and is among the top 20% performing Dollar Tree locations in Montana. ULTA Beauty (NASDAQ: ULTA) has been a tenant at Westwood Plaza since 2017. Mattress Firm has had more than a 10-year operating history in Great Falls and recently relocated to Westwood Plaza due to its outstanding location.
Greene adds, “Westwood Plaza offered the buyer a stable and secure investment with long-term historical occupancy and a diversified income stream leased to five national credit tenant retailers.” Greene noted that nearly 90% of the occupied square footage has been at the property for six years or more, and nearly 40% of the occupied square footage has been at the property for over 15 years.
Surrounding tenants include Sam’s Club, North 40, Albertsons, Ace Hardware, Sherwin-Williams, U.S. Bank, Buffalo Wild Wings, Domino’s Pizza, Burger King, and a coming soon Wendy’s. Per Placer.ai, the adjacent Sam’s Club location, with over 1.3 million visitors and the only Sam’s Club in a 100-mile radius, is ranked first in Montana. The North 40 store is ranked third nationwide in the chain and first in Montana with 544,000 annual visitors. Sherwin-Williams, which is situated on an outparcel (not part of the sale) is ranked first in Montana. The nearby Albertsons supermarket is ranked third in the chain for Montana. Ace Hardware is ranked in the top 3% in the chain.
“We generated multiple qualified offers from active, private, and mid-market buyers and created a competitive bidding process to help secure a 1031 exchange buyer and achieve maximum market pricing for the seller,” said Asher.
Westwood Plaza is strategically located directly across the street from Montana ExpoPark (over 450,000 annual visitors). The 133-acre park is home to the Montana State Fair and hosts events annually including concerts, horse races, sporting events, trade shows, rodeos, auctions, dances, and regional conventions.
According to Velten, “Great Falls is the second most affordable and third most populous city in the state of Montana: Cascade County’s GDP increased more than 10% in 2022 and serves as the retail, entertainment, healthcare, and educational hub for North Central Montana. Montana is the second fastest-growing state in the Mountain West region and the sixth fastest-growing state in the U.S.”
SSG Realty Partners and Hanley Investment Group recently teamed up on the sale of Canyon Center, a 48,537-square-foot, 96%-occupied shopping center shadow-anchored by Smith’s Food and Drug in Sandy, Utah, a suburb within the Salt Lake City metro area.
“The sale of Westwood Plaza is a great example of how well-located multi-tenant shopping centers leased to national credit tenants in the Mountain West region will continue to be sought-after retail assets in the marketplace in the future,” said Swedelson.