Cohen & Steers JV Acquires Grocery-Anchored Shopping Center

December 9, 2025

Anchored by Aldi, this southwest Florida property is almost completely occupied.

Cohen & Steers Income Opportunities REIT Inc. has acquired Springs Plaza, a 195,000-square-foot grocery-anchored open-air shopping center in Bonita Springs, Fla.

Springs Plaza, a 195,000-square-foot grocery-anchored open-air shopping center in Bonita Springs, Fla. *Image courtesy of Cohen & Steers*

The seller and the deal’s dollar value were not disclosed. According to Yardi Matrix however, DRA Advisors appears as the previous owner of the property at 8951 Bonita Beach Road SE. A Cohen & Steers spokesperson did not respond to Commercial Property Executive’s request for information.

The purchase was made through a programmatic joint venture with Phillips Edison & Co., a publicly traded owner and operator of grocery-anchored U.S. neighborhood shopping centers. This is the Cohen & Steers REIT’s fourth acquisition with PECO and eighth open-air shopping center in the portfolio.

Springs Plaza is in Bonita Springs, a fast-growing community between Naples and Fort Myers. More than 1,100 housing units are under construction within a 5-mile radius of the property, according to Cohen & Steers.

The 1974-vintage center is 99 percent occupied, with major tenants including Aldi, Ross, Ollie’s and Athletica Health & Fitness, reflecting ongoing retail industry trends favoring necessity-anchored centers.

In a prepared statement, James Corl, CEO of CNSREIT & head of the Private Real Estate Group at Cohen & Steers, described the location as having the highest median wealth and income in West Florida. He added that the surrounding retail is almost completely occupied, with no new construction underway.

Sweet as orange juice

Florida’s retail real estate situation is enviable, according to a recent Colliers report, which notes that the state accounted for 26 percent of new retail supply in the U.S. in the first half of this year.

Perhaps even better, statewide retail vacancy has remained below 4 percent since 2021, “reflecting sustained demand and tight market conditions,” Colliers wrote. In addition, retail asking rents in Florida grew 0.9 percent in the first half, more than doubling the U.S. average.

In January, Cohen & Steers Income Opportunities REIT Inc. acquired about half of the Marketplace at Highland Village, an approximately 451,000-square-foot open-air community shopping center in Dallas. This was the REIT’s first investment and was made through a programmatic joint venture with Sterling Organization.

The portion acquired by CNSREIT totals almost 207,000 square feet and includes major tenants like TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, LA Fitness, DSW and Petco. Overall, the center is about 93 percent occupied.