CHICAGO—Developers still remain a bit shy of creating newretail, and this lack of new supply has made investors eager topurchase existing stores in solid submarkets. Walnut Creek,CA-based Loja Real Estate has just purchased aportfolio of four Chicago grocery store properties fromDominick's Finer Foods, LLC, for about $95million. The four properties are anchored by either a WholeFoods or a Mariano's Fresh Market, thehottest grocer in the region, and sit within dense and relativelyaffluent neighborhoods.

“We like the dynamic of the Chicago market, especially in termsof its potential job growth,” Tom Engberg, thechief executive officer of Loja Real Estate, tells GlobeSt.com.“And these stores are not just in densely populated areas, but theyare in areas which also have a limited supply of options.”

The acquisitions have a total of 238,462-square-feet of leasablespace on 12.38 acres. They include three Marianos' located at 2021W. Chicago Ave., 5201 N. Sheridan Rd., and 1900 S. Cumberland insuburban Park Ridge. The Whole Foods-anchored space is at 6009 N.Broadway Ave., and will open in the spring of 2015. Theseneighborhoods, especially the one around the store on Chicago Ave.,"look like gentrifying markets with a lot of young people movingin,” says Engberg. Furthermore, each of the anchoring stores hassigned a 20-year lease, giving Loja even greater security on thepurchase.