104,000-SF Shopping Center Flips for $20.6M

Plaza Square Shopping Center is anchored by a ShopRite supermarket that generates a reported sales per-square-foot in excess of $600. In the transaction, C&W's FSG unit represented the seller and procured the buyer.

"The perceived safety of grocery-anchored retail assets has made investments like Plaza Square Shopping Center among the most sought-after opportunities in the market today," says David Bernhaut, FSG executive director. "In fact, we received more than 30 bids for this property, which indicates to me that this trend will very likely continue."

The Dallas-based Crow Holdings, which owns and directs the investments of the Trammell Cross family and its investment partners, has in fact emerged as an active player in the New York/New Jersey metro area in recent years. Most recently, it acquired the Village at Bedminster, a 110,000-sf Kings Supermarket-anchored property in upscale Bedminister, NJ. That particular transaction, which closed late last year, was also orchestrated by FSG.

Altogether, the company currently maintains a regional retail portfolio of some 455,000 sf. The various properties are located in Northern and Central New Jersey, as well as Long Island, NY.

"We're drawn to the Northern New Jersey market," explains Dan Feeney, a managing director at Crow Holdings. "The area offers the type of dense, affluent demographics that drive our acquisition strategy. That, coupled with limited opportunity for future competitive growth in the market, makes this an ideal area for our regional expansion."

Nationally, Crow Holdings' retail portfolio is in the 5.6-million-sf range, encompassing a mix of neighborhood, community and power centers. The company also invests in office, industrial, hotel, multifamily and land.