LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Shopping Center Group, the largest, privately owned, retail-only real estate advisory firm along the Eastern seaboard, has closed another shopping center sale in a high-growth secondary market: Markham Square in Little Rock.

Anchored by Burlington Coat Factory and Ross Dress for Less, Markham Square sold on January 6 to a private investor. The Shopping Center Group represented the seller, an affiliate of Houston-based Weingarten Realty. No additional terms were available.

“Our marketing effort focused on not only local real estate investors but also national and regional groups that were interested in entering the Little Rock market,” Anthony Blanco, director of investment sales for The Shopping Center Group, told GlobeSt.com. “A number of positive attributes about the market and the property resulted in significant interest. Markham Square is well-situated along a major thoroughfare in Little Rock and within a defined retail market that benefits from a strong daytime population supported by nearby hospitals and vibrant employment centers.”

Markham Square was built in 1987 and renovated in 2011 to accommodate the new Ross. The 125,884-square-foot shopping center is currently 92 percent leased and located at the signalized intersection of West Markham Street and John Barrow Road, less than one mile east of Interstate 430 and north of Interstate 630, and approximately five miles west of Little Rock's central business district. 

The center also includes an unoccupied outparcel along West Markham Street that can accommodate approximately 2,900 square feet of retail space. Little Rock-based Flake & Kelley Commercial will manage and lease the property.

The Shopping Center Group's team of Blanco, Lenard Williams and Mallory Ham marketed the property with Hank Kelley, Cynthia Lu and Daryl Peeples of Flake & Kelley Commercial.

“This partnership enabled us to package an 'on-the-ground' story that accurately described the market and trade area potential as well as the true value of the asset,” Blanco says.