For example, in Duluth, Gwinnett County, 10 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta, locally based Village at Rogers Bridge LLC sold its 37,000-sf Village at Rogers Bridge center to S1031, a Phoenix-based tenancy-in-common fund for $5.9 million. The price for the 60%-leased asset equals $199.95 per sf. Among the tenants at the Peachtree Industrial Boulevard property are Maximum Dirt Motorsports, Super Supper and Java Shop Coffee. Tim Giambrone of Marcus & Millichap brokered the deal for buyer and seller. He tells GlobeSt.com S1031 has previously acquired several metro Atlanta properties for its TIC fund.

Giambrone also represented the Shops at Hiram LLC in the $1.7-million sale of a 8,888-sf strip center on Wendy Bagwell Parkway in Hiram, 10 miles northwest of Downtown Atlanta in fast-developing Paulding County. New York-based Hiram LLC paid $191.27 per sf for the 60%-leased property. The center, anchored by Meinke, is across the street from the 600,000-sf Hiram Pavilion. Andrew Jordan, also of Marcus & Millichap, negotiated for the buyer.

Giambrone tells GlobeSt.com both sales were spurred by new single-family and multifamily developments surfacing near the retail assets, along with "national and local retailers of every kind." He says Gwinnett and Paulding counties, like several other suburban areas in the metro area, are drawing the attention of national developers and retailers because of their population and shelter growth in the last few years.

Giambrone tells GlobeSt.com $200-per-sf prices are becoming the norm in metro Atlanta for quality neighborhood retail centers. "I haven't seen $50-per-sf prices in at least the last two years," the broker says.