Equity One Buys Prime Canton Center

CANTON, GA-Equity One Inc. continues its year-long Georgia buying spree with the $14.1-million acquisition of The Market at BridgeMill, a three-year-old, 78,654-sf, 94%-leased shopping center in an affluent submarket here, 25 miles northeast of Downtown Atlanta.

The acquisition was the third this year for the North Miami Beach, FL-based REIT. Although his company paid a premium $179.26 per sf for the Publix supermarket-anchored property, Equity One chairman and CEO Chaim Katzman says the asset merited the price.

“The Market at BridgeMill exemplifies the type of neighborhood center we prefer to own, with a dominant grocer and a complementary mix of local tenants providing a range of daily goods and necessities,” Katzman says. “We have considerable operating advantages and economies of scale in the Atlanta market and will continue to seek additional investment opportunities.”

To do the deal, Equity One assumed a 7.94%, $9.6-million loan due May 2021 and funded the balance from its available cash balances, Katzman says.

Besides the 37,888-sf Publix, the Market at BridgeMill has 40,766 sf of local tenant space. The neighborhood center is located on five adjoining parcels totaling 13.5 acres at the intersection of Bells Ferry Road and Sixes Road here, about four miles west of Interstate 575. The three-mile trade area has more than 18,000 residents with an average household income over $90,000, Katzman says.

“The surrounding neighborhoods have experienced significant growth with several new housing communities planned or under construction nearby,” he says. Neal Pringle of the Shopping Center Group in Atlanta negotiated for Sixes Commercial in the sale transaction.