Sacramento-Area Shopping Center Sells in Record-Setting Deal

By Gail Kalinoski

Elk Grove Commons

Acadia Realty Trust acquired Elk Grove Commons, a 241,926-square-foot shopping center in Elk Grove, Calif. Donohue Schriber, a West Coast-focused retail REIT, sold the fully leased property for $59.3 million. The sale was the largest single asset retail transaction in the past three years in the Sacramento area, according to NKF Capital Markets Vice Chairman Nicholas Bicardo and Managing Director Brandon Rogoff, who represented the seller.

Acadia, a Rye, N.Y.-based REIT, said in its second-quarter 2018 earnings report that it acquired Elk Grove Commons through its Fund V. “During its hold period, the fund expects to have an opportunity to re-anchor certain spaces to further strengthen the tenancy at this high-performing shopping center. This investment combines ‘high-yield opportunistic’ and ‘value-add’ strategies,” the REIT noted in the earnings release.

Located at 9624 Bruceville Road, Elk Grove Commons is the dominant retail center in the Sacramento region and is anchored by a high-performing Trader Joe’s, Home Goods and Kohl’s. Other tenants include Cost World Market, GameStop, Tillys, Lane Bryant, Justice, GNC, Dressbarn, Orangetheory Fitness, Mattress Firm, Verizon and Carl’s Jr. Approximately 83 percent of the tenants, including the anchors, have been operating at the center since it was developed in 2004.

“Elk Grove Commons is positioned on one of the most dynamic intersections in a submarket that has excellent fundamentals in regards to retail vacancy, residential and employment growth. Given the stability of the asset, coupled with where the capital markets are pricing today, this opportunity presented levered cash on cash returns that are hard to find on the West Coast for this quality of retail,” Bicardo said in a prepared statement.

Acadia acquires, owns and redevelops retail properties in high barriers-to-entry, dense populations and constrained retail supply markets, primarily along the East Coast, as well as Chicago and San Francisco. Properties include street retail, urban/infill and suburban shopping centers. In March, the company acquired Trussville Promenade, a 463,836-square-foot shopping center in Birmingham, Ala., from Kite Realty Group Trust.

Busy and affluent trade area

Elk Grove Commons serves an affluent and dense trade area where average incomes are approximately $100,000 in a region with a population of 160,000 people. Located at the corner of Elk Grove Boulevard and Bruceville Road, more than 71,000 cars pass the shopping center daily. The Kohl’s at Elk Grove Commons is one of the top-performing locations in the region.

“There were multiple bids on the property, highlighting that investors are still willing to make large retail investments in the Sacramento market as long as the asset is well-located with high-performing tenants as is the case with Elk Grove Commons,” Rogoff said in prepared remarks.

Top lenders and mortgage brokers recently told Multi-Housing News that secondary markets such as Sacramento have seen increasing activity from multifamily investors, on both acquisition and refinancing fronts. Jeff Burns, managing director at Walker & Dunlop, noted that secondary markets including Sacramento have seen multifamily rent growth and higher cap rates. 

Image courtesy of NKF Capital Markets