CRC Enters Virginia With Richmond Retail Center Buy

May 7, 2024

Retail Investment Mid-Atlantic NewsMoreRichmond

This property traded for $7 million less than five years ago.

In its first Virginia purchase, Continental Realty Corp. has acquired Gayton Crossing, a 160,830-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Richmond, through its Continental Realty Opportunistic Retail Fund I LP. ShopCore sold the asset for $22 million, according to Richmond BizSense, with the assistance of JLL.

The retail property previously traded in 2019 for $29 million, CommercialEdge data shows. Developed by S.L. Nusbaum Realty Co. and Woolfolk Properties in 1981, Gayton Crossing comprises six buildings spread on some 15 acres. The shopping center also includes five free-standing pad sites and a free surface parking lot equating to nearly 700 parking spaces.

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Shadow-anchored by Kroger, Gayton Crossing also features a diverse mix of national and regional retailers such as Bank of America, GOLD’S Gym, Goldfish Swim School, Jos. A. Bank, KidStrong, Starbucks Coffee, Virginia ABCstore and The UPS Store.

Located at 9782 Gayton Road in the Far West End submarket, Gayton Crossing serves more than 100,000 individuals and 75,000 households within a 5-mile radius, with the average household income exceeding $135,000, according to CRC.

JLL Managing Directors Jordan Lex and Dean Sands, together with Director Danny Naughton, represented ShopCore.

CRC’s comprehensive portfolio

CRC purchased Gayton Crossing through CRORF, the closed-end fund for which $296 million have been raised. Since its inception, the investment vehicle has funded the acquisition of 12 retail properties totaling approximately 2.7 million square feet of space.

One of these assets was South Coast Collection, a 292,000-square-foot luxury lifestyle center in Costa Mesa, Calif. Its purchase marked CRC’s entrance into the Southern California market.

CRORF also funded the acquisition of a 460,000-square-foot, super-regional retail center in Lakeland, Fla., for $78 million. That property encompasses 20 buildings on an 88-acre site.

CRC is active in 11 states with more than $3.7 billion in assets under management. Since the start of 2021, the firm has amassed nearly $600 million in retail real estate assets.