Follows $17 million acquisition of Sweetgrass Corner retail center and $55 million purchase of Sweetgrass Landing Apartments earlier this year by Baltimore-based real estate company
Continental Realty Corporation (CRC), a Baltimore-based real estate investment and management company, has purchased its seventh asset in the greater Charleston, South Carolina metropolitan area with the $3.9 million acquisition of The Shops at Towne Centre Way, a 7,054 square foot retail center located at 1903 N. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant. CRC acquired this asset in an off-market transaction from Church Property, LLC, with Trey Lucy, Principal at Belk | Lucy representing both sides in the transaction. The center is immediately adjacent to two CRC assets: Mount Pleasant Towne Centre, a 510,000 square foot regional shopping venue acquired by the company in 2020, and Sweetgrass Corner, a nearly 90,000 square foot neighborhood shopping center purchased by CRC earlier this year.
The Shops at Towne Centre Way was purchased on behalf of Continental Realty Fund V, L.P., managed by CRC. Fund V is a $210.8 million private equity fund focused on acquiring value-add retail and multifamily properties in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast regions. This represents the eleventh retail asset acquired by Fund V, following the $17 million acquisition of Sweetgrass Corner. Also through Continental Realty Fund V, in early 2022 CRC acquired 175 of the 200 apartment units contained within Sweetgrass Landing Apartments for $55 million. Since its inception, Fund V has acquired a total of 15 retail and multifamily properties.
In the Mount Pleasant area, Fund V also owns The Six Apartments, a 92-unit community located at 2170 Snyder Circle in Mount Pleasant which was acquired this January. CRC now owns seven assets in the greater Charleston area, including Central Island Square, a mixed-use project within the 4,000-acre master-planned community of Daniel Island and consisting of 313 multifamily units and nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space; and West Ashley Shoppes, a nearly 140,000 square foot neighborhood retail center across from Citadel Mall.
Constructed in 2001, The Shops at Towne Centre Way consists of four retail spaces that were 100% leased at the time of the transaction, including a nail salon, vision center and Marble Slab Creamery. The asset is situated on a corner lot with direct exposure to Mount Pleasant Towne Center and Sweetgrass Corner between N. Highway 17 and Hungry Neck Boulevard near the intersection of Isle of Palms Connector.
Nearly 45,000 vehicles pass the site on a daily basis via US Highway 17, and the center is located on a strategic corridor connecting Mount Pleasant to Charleston, with direct links to Interstate 526 serving the nearby towns of Daniel Island, North Charleston and West Ashley. Nearly 60,000 consumers, with an average household income exceeding $125,000, reside within a three-mile radius of The Shops at Towne Centre Way.
Site offers full options and flexibility to execute long-term plans of existing CRC assets
“Consistent with our recent acquisitions in Mount Pleasant, we were able to identify this opportunity and conclude this sale by leveraging our long-term relationships with the seller and the local real estate community,” noted Josh Dinstein, Senior Vice President, Acquisitions for Continental Realty Corporation “An extremely high barrier to entry for new retail projects continues to exist, which increases the value and attractiveness of strong and strategically-located shopping centers such as The Shops at Towne Centre Way. It also places a premium on existing retail venues given the healthy demand among retailers that prevails in this marketplace.”
Long-term growth expected for Mount Pleasant area based on continued population growth
The Mount Pleasant area’s median household income is expected to increase by 13% over the next five years to more than $113,000. The area’s population grew 33% between 2010 and 2020 and home values rose by more than 75% over the past decade. The Shops at Towne Centre Way is located within the Charleston Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA), recognized as the fourth-largest municipality in South Carolina.
Major employment centers of Charleston and North Charleston include Joint Base Charleston (36,000 employees), Medical University of South Carolina (13,000), The Boeing Company (8,200) and the Berkeley County School District (approximately 7,000). Nearly seven million tourists visit the area annually, injecting more than $7 billion into the local economy.
“Our retail, multifamily and mixed-used properties in the greater Charleston metropolitan region have performed exceedingly well and, given our belief in the long-term fundamentals of this area, we intend to aggressively pursue additional assets that match our acquisition profile,” explained JM Schapiro, CEO of Continental Realty Corporation. “This includes both value-add and core investments that deliver solid risk-adjusted returns to our investors. We continue to invest significant personnel and financial resources in high-growth Southeastern US markets, as our research indicates a sustained population shift and expansion of jobs occurring in this section of the country.”
Headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland and founded in 1960, CRC is a full-service commercial real estate and investment company focused on acquiring and operating retail and multifamily properties. The privately held firm owns and manages a diversified portfolio of retail centers consisting of more than six million square feet of commercial space and approximately 9,000 apartment homes across ten states, with a portfolio value exceeding $3.2 billion. For additional information, visit www.crcrealty.com.
