By Jon Peterson
San Diego-based Retail Opportunity Investments Corporation (ROIC) has paid $49 million to buy the 113,223 square foot Sternco Shopping Center in Bellevue.
The property was owned by a local family. “This seller was a second generation owner of the property. They had owned it for more than 30 years. The different individuals in the family wanted to go in a different directions, and that is why the property was sold at this time,” says Paul Sleeth, an executive vice president with the Seattle office of Colliers International. He and Billy Sleeth, senior vice president, represented the seller in the transaction. Both of them are part of the Colliers Retail Investment Team.
ROIC did not respond to a phone call seeking comment for this story.
The property was widely marketed and did attract a lot of capital sources. “There were REITs and other institutional capital sources that were interested in the property. I think it was because of the fact that it was a grocery-anchored shopping center in the high-income Bellevue market that made a difference for many investors trying to buy retail assets,” said Sleeth. He declined to state what the cap rate was on the transaction.
The shopping center is located in the “Bel-Red” Corridor of Bellevue and stands at 14625 Northeast 20th Street. The property covers 10.8 acres of land, and it has no vacancies. The anchor tenant is Asian Food Center. The property’s other tenants include Goodwill, IHOP, India Super Market, Mattress Depot, Precor Home Fitness, Seattle Lighting, Seattle Hardware Co. and Sherman Williams.
According to its Web site, ROIC owns one other asset in the Bellevue market. This is the 463,436 square foot Crossroads Shopping Center. The investor bought this property in two parts in 2010 and 2013. The main tenants in this property are a QFC Supermarket, Bed Bath & Beyond and Sports Authority. The asset is 99.9 percent occupied.
ROIC owns assets in four major markets, as stated on its Web site. These are Seattle, Portland and Northern and Southern California.
According to the company’s third quarter 2015 supplemental report, it owns a portfolio of 10 shopping centers in the greater Seattle market. Besides Bellevue, it also owns properties in Seattle, Kent, Lake Stevens, Bothell, Lacey, Marysville, Shoreline and Puyallup. These properties total 1.27 million square feet and with an overall occupancy of 98.3 percent.
