DRA Advisors JV Sells Connecticut Shopping Center

DRA Advisors and KPR Centers have sold Bethel Shopping Center, a 101,105-square-foot shopping center in Bethel, Conn. Phillips Edison & Co. acquired the asset, in a transaction brokered by CBRE.

Bethel Shopping Center—along with 32 other grocery-anchored retail properties—was acquired by DRA and KPR from Cedar Realty Trust in 2022, in a portfolio transaction totaling approximately $879 million, including assumed debt. CBRE acted as the real estate advisor for the seller back then as well.

Cedar had purchased the asset in 2013 from Ceruzzi Properties for $34.5 million, according to CommercialEdge data.

Bethel Shopping Center came online in 2007. Anchored by Big Y Supermarket, Starbucks and Dollar Tree, the retail center has a diverse mix of national and regional tenants such as Great Clips, Athlete’s Source, Quest Diagnostics, Casa Tequila and Weight Watchers. At the time of the deal, the property was 91 percent leased.

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Situated on some 11 acres at 83 Stony Hill Road, Bethel Shopping Center serves around 32,000 individuals within a 3-mile radius, with the average household income of approximately $140,000, according to CBRE. The property is near U.S. Route 6, which provides direct access to several residential neighborhoods and Interstate 84.

Executive Vice President Nat Heald, Vice Chair Jeffrey Dunne and Senior Vice President David Gavin of CBRE’s National Retail Partners worked on behalf of the seller. CBRE also procured the buyer.

Interest in retail portfolios

Recent retail trends indicate that investors have been actively purchasing portfolios. Earlier this year, KPR acquired a 1.5 million-square-foot retail collection in Florida and the Midwest for $180 million. Kimco Realty Corp. sold the eight assets.

In another deal brokered by CBRE, a joint venture between a fund managed by DRA Advisors and Soundwater Properties recently purchased a three-property, 376,462-square-foot shopping center portfolio in Ocean County, N.J. Each center is anchored by a ShopRite store.