Branch Properties JV Secures $171M for Retail Portfolio

November 12, 2024

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The assets total some 1.2 million square feet.

Exterior shot of Papermill Plaza, a shopping center in Palm Coast, Fla. — Whole Foods Market, REI and Ulta Beauty anchor Papermill Plaza. The property was acquired for strategic purposes and redeveloped into the current 74,516-square-foot shopping center. This redevelopment was completed in the spring of 2015. *Image courtesy of CBRE*

Branch Properties and Corebridge Real Estate Investors have obtained a $171.4 million loan for the refinancing of the Southeast Grocery-Anchored Portfolio, a collection of eight retail properties totaling nearly 1.2 million square feet.

PGIM Real Estate provided the loan through The Prudential Insurance Co., public records show. CBRE arranged the transaction, working on behalf of the borrowers.

Located in Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia and Florida, the shopping centers have more than 190 tenants in total, including major grocery anchors such as Publix, Kroger and Whole Foods. The assets were 96.6 percent leased at the time of closing.

The Southeast Grocery-Anchored Portfolio includes:

Papermill Plaza, at 6730 Papermill Drive in Knoxville, Tenn.
The Bartlett Towne Centre, at 6005 Stage Road in Bartlett, Tenn.
Island Walk Shopping Center, at 216 Palm Coast Parkway in Palm Coast, Fla.
Beachway Plaza, at 7208 Manatee Ave. W. in Bradenton, Fla.
Cornerstone Plaza, at 5645 N. Atlantic Ave., in Cocoa Beach, Fla.
Tates Creek Centre, at 4101-4191 Tates Creek Road in Lexington, Ky.
Village Shoppes at Gainesville, at 821-891 Dawsonville Highway in Gainesville, Ga.
Shallowford Falls, at 3162 Johnson Ferry Road in Marietta, Ga.

Senior Vice President Richard Henry, Vice Chairs Mike Ryan and Brian Linnihan, together with Director Taylor Crowder, led the CBRE team which brokered the deal.

Retail portfolios on investors’ radar

This year, numerous significant transactions involving portfolios have closed nationwide, reflecting broader retail trends.

PGIM and Southeast Centers have recently sold a seven-property retail portfolio totaling 608,314 square feet across several Florida markets. Publix purchased the grocery-anchored assets for $223.9 million, in a transaction brokered by JLL.

Back in March, KPR Centers purchased a 1.5 million-square-foot retail portfolio for $180 million. Kimco Realty Corp. sold the eight assets located in Missouri, Florida and Wisconsin.

In the beginning of the year, Epic Real Estate Partners obtained approximately $100 million to refinance a retail portfolio consisting of five grocery-anchored shopping centers spread across as many states. The loans were provided by Prime Finance Partners and John Hancock Life Insurance.