By Meghan Hall
Even as grocery thrived during the pandemic, local supermarket chain Fred Meyers is unloading a multitude of properties, with multiple deals closing over the past several days. In six different transactions, Fred Meyer sold locations in Shoreline, Puyallup and Tacoma for a combined $98.7 million. Public documents indicate that San Francisco-based MetLife Investment Management sold the properties on behalf of Fred Meyer, and that the buyer is Florida-based Benderson Development Company.
In the largest deal, a retail location at 8530 & 8710 Evergreen Way in Everett sold for $23.1 million. In a similarly-sized transaction retail space at 4411 & 4615 196th St. SW in Lynnwood traded for $22.9 million.
The third largest transaction, for $17.3 million, was for a Fred Meyer at 18325 Aurora Ave. N. in Shoreline, Wash.
In a another deal totaling $16.4 million, Benderson Development purchased 7210, 7250, 7430, 7440 and 7448 Pacific Ave. in Tacoma. Also in Tacoma, Fred Meyer sold 4505 South Street for $11.3 million.
In the final transaction, a Fred Meyer store at 1100 N Meridian in Puyallup sold for $12.2 million.
Fred Meyer was originally established in in the 1930s in Portland, and is now owned by Kroger. Kroger, headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, is one of the nation’s largest food retailers with 2020 sales at about $132.5 billion. Its store sales grew 14.1 percent over the past year.
“We finished fiscal year 2020 with strong sales and earnings, as heightened demand for fresh, convenient food and meal solutions across modalities, including in store, pick up and home delivery, continued throughout the fourth quarter,” stated the company in its most recent investor conference at the end of March.
According to its website, Benderson Development Company is one of the largest privately held real estate companies in the United States. The firm manages more than 700 assets with a portfolio that spans retail, office, industrial, hotel, residential and land holdings. In Washington State, the company had several assets prior to its Fred Meyer acquisitions, in Bonney Lake, Everett, Seattle and in Vancouver.
