CBRE Global Buys Atlanta Retail Center for $109M

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

CBRE Global Investors has teamed with Universal-Investment to acquire North Point MarketCenter, a 427,053-square-foot Class A regional retail center in Alpharetta, Ga., from PGIM Real Estate for a reported $109 million.

North Point MarketCenter in Alpharetta, Ga.

“We’ve been looking at a lot of retail, and there was just a critical mass of segment leading, national retailers and discounters that we thought was very appealing,” Stu Sziklas, CBRE Global Investors-Americas’ managing director, told Commercial Property Executive. “Retail has taken a beating recently and there’s certainly reason to be cautious, but we think the rumor of its demise has been a little over-exaggerated. I don’t see retail disappearing.”

Located at 6200 North Point Parkway, on the corner of North Point Parkway and Haynes Bridge Road, North Point MarketCenter benefits from excellent accessibility and visibility off a major highway accessing the Atlanta suburbs. The retail center also benefits from a complementary tenant base at the adjacent regional mall that promotes customer cross-traffic.

“It’s a strong retail area, with one of Georgia’s top regional malls,” Sziklas said. “The demographics of the area were great.”

The asset is currently 97 percent leased, and is anchored by national retailers including Nordstrom Rack, PetSmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods. It’s also shadow-anchored by Target.

“We see opportunity with dominant retail centers, and the retailers we have at North Point MarketCenter, who represent the segment-leading brands in their respective categories, are well-positioned in this environment, so it just resonated with us,” Sziklas said. “We take a research-based approach to our investments and we continue to project strong employment growth in Atlanta.”

In fact, recent CBRE research revealed that economic fundamentals, such as employment growth that is significantly above the national employment growth rate and healthy retail sales have placed the Atlanta retail market on pace for continued positive growth.

According to Sziklas, the company is planning capital improvements, including enhancements to the roof, curb appeal and signage, and will drive performance through active asset management.

“We think the property is in good shape but can use some polishing around the edges,” he said. “We’ve already started on a repaving project in the parking lots, we’re designing a new signage and wayfinding program and working to generally improve curb appeal.”

PGIM originally acquired the retail center in 1998 in a joint venture and has been the sole owner since 2013.

Image courtesy of CBRE