Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company, has entered the suburban Chicago real estate market with its acquisition of a portfolio of five shopping centers comprising over 900,000 square feet of gross leasable area. The grocery-anchored and necessity-based assets located in Cicero, Mount Prospect, Naperville, and Palatine, Illinois were acquired from DiMucci Companies for $93.6 million. Tucker Development, a Chicago-based real estate and development firm, acted as an acquisition and development consultant on the transaction. The portfolio was cumulatively 84% occupied at the time of the sale, leased by national retailers such as Sam’s Club, The Home Depot, Jewel-Osco, Kroger, Walgreens and Ross Dress for Less.
The portfolio was purchased on behalf of Continental Realty Opportunistic Retail Investment Fund I, a private equity fund formed last year and focused on acquiring value-add and income-producing retail properties in targeted submarkets throughout the United States.
“The acquisition of the suburban Chicago grocery anchored retail portfolio is well aligned with our overall investment thesis and is an opportunity to own and operate an institutional-quality real estate portfolio featuring a strong line up of grocery, drug store and necessity-based users, combined with strong value-add potential,” stated Josh Dinstein, senior vice president, acquisitions for Continental Realty Corporation. “Each center is strategically located in dense infill areas with high barriers to entry, and we were able to acquire the portfolio substantially below replacement cost.”
“There are multiple paths to value with the ability to deliver strong risk-adjusted yields to our investors. This includes leasing nearly 150,000 square feet of inherited vacancies, monetizing several existing outparcel opportunities, and implementing our asset management strategy to achieve improved cost efficiencies,” added Dinstein.
