Baceline Investments, LLC, a boutique private equity real estate investment and management company with neighborhood shopping center holdings throughout the United States, has acquired three retail properties near Cleveland, Chicago and Minneapolis. It marks a return to buying for the Denver-based firm after concentrating efforts the last six months on supporting its tenants to help them navigate the retail industry during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The acquisitions include Trask Towers (a 16,195-square-feet retail center in Mentor, Ohio), Baceline’s first property in the Cleveland metro area; Foxmoor Crossing (a 22,408-square foot asset in Fox River Grove, Illinois), a high-volume, heavily trafficked retail center one hour northwest of Chicago and Hanson Commons I (a 12,708-square-foot facility in Andover, Minnesota), a location with diverse tenants that has proven resilient during the pandemic.
The acquisitions bring Baceline’s Core Income fund portfolio to 73 shopping centers located in 27 markets in the mid-section of the United States. It’s Baceline’s largest and most diverse portfolio, spanning 15 states. It includes nearly 2.5 million-square-feet of retail space with 860 local and national tenants.
“When the pandemic took hold in March, we immediately shifted our focus into support mode, doing what we could to create tools and resources for the small businesses who occupy our neighborhood shopping centers,” said Dusty Batsell, executive vice president of Real Estate. “While our commitment to ensure their success continues, we are once again targeting and evaluating properties for the portfolio, identifying those in thriving communities.”
Baceline’s investment strategy focuses on neighborhood shopping centers in markets throughout the U.S. that have value-rich properties at opportunistic prices, less competition, and more supply of quality real estate when compared to gateway cities.