Marc Tropp, a senior managing director with Eastern Union, arranged $73.03 million in financing over the six-month period between January and July in support of Baltimore-based America’s Realty’s acquisition of seven grocery-anchored, suburban retail centers.
The combined size of the seven retail centers — located in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia — equals 1,005,035 square feet. Among the properties were the 283,308-square-foot Cressona Mall in Pottsville, Pennsylvania, which was acquired for $16 million, and the 147,800-square-foot Brice Park in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, which was purchased for $14.6 million.
America’s Realty’s holdings consist of discount retailer-oriented shopping centers in “blue-collar Middle America,” as described by its president and founder, Carl Verstandig. Founded in 1987, the privately held company’s portfolio presently encompasses 125 properties totaling approximately 12 million square feet in size.
“Carl Verstandig has no equal when it comes to the revitalization of underperforming retail centers,” Tropp said. “In an era when the retail sector faces substantial threats from all sides, Carl has the innate ability to identify turnaround opportunities. He then rehabilitates these assets, while keeping rents affordable for tenants.”
“We focus on strip centers in working-class communities,” Verstandig said. “Our approach isn’t impeded by e-commerce. America’s Realty succeeds by tapping into the persistent consumer demand for grocery and discounted retail stores. We then leverage that demand to reduce vacancies.”
