HOUSTON—Overall retail investment transaction volume decreased by 22.5% in 2017 and investment into grocery-anchored centers increased by 5.3% last year. It was one of the only retail sectors to record growth in a year of low retail transaction volume, according to JLL's US investment outlook.

While there is a steady and growing investor appetite for grocery-anchored assets, actual store expansions have slowed slightly following years of aggressive growth, according to JLL's grocery tracker 2018 report. Grocery openings decreased 28.8% from 2016 to 2017 as some grocers reined in expansion plans.

This is a trend echoed in Houston. Grocery-led development has slowed slightly amid Houston's highly competitive grocer market and as newer retail corridors along the Grand Parkway have been developed, GlobeSt.com learns. Here are a few grocery-anchored shopping centers that traded in Houston last year:

Costco-anchored 253,237-square-foot Greenway Commons was acquired by LaSalle Investment Management, and brokered by George Cushing and Wendy Vandeventer of JLL.

The 101,791-square-foot HEB-anchored Market at Lake Houston in Humble.

The 147,000-square-foot Sam's Club anchored center at 13331 Westheimer.

Texas remains a top five grocery market but new supermarkets decreased to 1.2 million square feet in 2017, down from 3 million square feet in 2016. Texas accounted for 9.2% of total new grocery space in 2017, down from 16.1% in 2016.

“The grocery sector in the year ahead will be an eventful one. We expect increased competition from foreign chains and non-grocer domestic companies entering the space, which will spur major advancements in technology. Grocers will be changing the way consumers shop, interact with their brand and products,” said Taylor Coyne, senior retail research analyst, JLL.

Instant Insights /

Grocer-Anchored Centers Still Have Investor Pull

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