Excel Trust, Primestor Buys Point to Retail Recovery

By Alex Girda, Associate Editor

If December is “the Black Friday of real estate,” as RealEstate.com’s stated recently, the month has started strong in the Las Vegas market. A pair of retail centers changed hands as their buyers made their debuts in the market.

In the larger deal, San Diego-based Excel Trust Inc. paid Regency Centers Corp. $17.5 million for Anthem Highlands Shopping Center, a 118,763-square-foot property located in Henderson, VegasInc reported.  Excel Trust’s investment marks its first venture into the Las Vegas market. A site map on Regency’s Web site indicates that Anthem Highlands is anchored by an Albertsons grocery store and a CVS drugstore. Other national retail brands represented at the center include Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Starbucks. Regency Centers was represented by LUCESCU Realty managing director Frank Maretti, who cited the deal as an example of Las Vegas’ recovering market, VegasInc reported.

Also changing hands  in early December was 4G Plaza, a 78,849-square-foot neighborhood center located at 4215-4275 E. Charleston Blvd. in Las Vegas. Acquiring its first retail property in the market, Los Angeles-based Primestor Development Inc. bought the asset from 4G Properties L.L.C. in an $8.825 million deal, according to VegasInc. The tenant roster includes El Super, Taco Bell and Big 5 Sporting Goods.