Cohen & Steers Income Opportunities REIT, Inc. announced its acquisition of Deer Valley Towne Center, a community shopping center in the Deer Valley submarket north of Phoenix, Arizona. The acquisition was made through a programmatic joint venture with Sterling Organization, a real estate investment firm with extensive expertise in shopping centers in the U.S. This is CNSREIT’s fourth acquisition with Sterling Organization and sixth open-air shopping center in the portfolio.
Deer Valley Towne Center is a 159,000 square foot open air shopping center. Located 17 miles north of Phoenix, the property is over 94% leased and is adjacent to 800 apartment units and 200 hospital beds. Shadow anchored by Target, the shopping center offers a variety of apparel, restaurant, home, and pet care stores for consumers.
The property benefits from the high-growth Phoenix market (1.3% population growth over the next five years) and low taxes of Arizona, which is the fourth lowest-tax state, with 3-mile population and median household income of 109,000 and $72,000 respectively. The property also benefits from the major highway intersection of I-17 and Loop 101, with a number of corporate offices nearby to support continued growth.
“CNSREIT is seeking out dynamic, valuable locations to add to our portfolio. Deer Valley Towne Center is a Target-anchored community center desirably located and highly occupied in the high-growth Phoenix market,” said James S. Corl, Chief Executive Officer of CNSREIT and Head of the Private Real Estate Group at Cohen & Steers, “We believe that this property is well positioned to continue benefiting from rising demand for retail space and sustained consumer traffic in open-air shopping. We look forward to continuing to foster our successful partnership with Sterling.”
CNSREIT is acquiring high quality properties that generate attractive income potential alongside best-in-class operators and has an initial focus on well-anchored, necessity-driven shopping centers. Open-air shopping centers are at their highest occupancy level of the past 16 years at 95.7%, according to real estate analytics provider CoStar Group.
