The trade of a grocery-anchored shopping center — home to an outpost of grocer H-E-B — marks the largest retail transaction in Alamo City since 2021.
A joint venture of MCB Real Estate, Epic Real Estate Partners and Centerbridge Partners purchased the 440,000-square-foot Northwoods Shopping Center, according to a release from MCB, which is based in Baltimore. Epic is based in Austin, and Centerbridge is in New York.
Truist Bank provided the acquisition loan.
Northwoods, at 18140 San Pedro Drive, is at the intersection of Highway 281 and Loop 1604. The spot has a daytime population of 114,000 people within a 3 mile radius.
Barshop & Oles Company developed the property in 1996. In addition to H-E-B, the center is home to Nordstrom Rack, Marshall’s, Ulta and Barnes & Noble, which is having a renaissance after years of being dominated by Amazon. The shopping center is 91 percent leased.
MCB has been on a retail tear in the last two years, picking up Falcon Ridge Shopping Center in Fontana, California, and Takoma Park Shopping Center near Washington, D.C. The firm also acquired a former Century 21 store in Brooklyn with plans to spend $100 million redeveloping the property.
Retail has proven to be a wise real estate investment after warnings about the death knell of retail after the Great Financial Crisis kept developers from building new products. As a result, space is limited and rents are high.
Retail rents are up from a year ago in San Antonio, increasing from $19.47 to $19.82 per square foot, according to Partners Real Estate. Vacancy rates are low, hovering between 3.9 and 4 percent over the last 12 months.
The lack of inventory means the market has been able to weather headwinds like the closure of big-box retailers, like Party City and Forever 21. Experiential users like gyms are gobbling up that space.
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