Benderson Buys Cambridge Retail Asset

Image by Karsten Winegeart via Unsplash

Benderson Development has acquired 330-340 River St., a 54,226-square-foot retail asset in Cambridge, Mass. Newmark brokered the $26.4 million transaction on behalf of the seller, Acadia Realty Trust.

The property encompasses a two-story, 40,800-square-foot Whole Foods Market and an adjacent 13,426-square-foot Walgreens store. The larger building was custom-built for the retailer in 2001.

Located in the Cambridgeport neighborhood, the asset sits between Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Downtown Cambridge is some 4 miles from the property, while H Mart Cambridge, Target, Trader Joe’s and Black Sheep Market are also nearby.

Acadia Realty Trust received capital markets advisory services from Newmark’s Boston Capital Markets group, which included Co-Head Robert Griffin, Vice Chairman Geoffrey Millerd, as well as Managing Directors Jon Martin and Paul Penman.

While demand for other asset classes may have slowed down, high-quality retail investments remain very liquid, said Penman in a prepared statement. In a recent deal, a 65,155-square-foot Whole Foods Market parcel at Plymouth Meeting Mall in Plymouth Meeting, Pa., changed hands. Earlier this month, a partnership between Grossman Development Group, Long Term Capital and Equity Industrial also invested in a grocery-anchored asset in Westborough, Mass.