JLL arranges sale of thriving, Hispanic grocery-anchored shopping center in Houston

HOUSTON, Oct. 2, 2024 -  JLL Capital Markets has successfully facilitated the sale of Little York Plaza, a 114,982-square-foot Hispanic grocery-anchored shopping center in the Near North submarket of Houston, Texas.

JLL worked on behalf of the seller. The asset was purchased by The Criterion Fund, a full-service retail development and investment group specializing in strip center investments.

Little York Plaza, situated at 1523 Little York Rd., is strategically located along Hardy Toll Rd. and Little York Rd., with a daily traffic count of 41,370 and 25,261 vehicles respectively. Little York Plaza sits in the center of the Hardy Heights community, acting as an essential shopping center with a tenant lineup tailored to serve the neighbouring rooftops. The area is seeing positive growth, benefitting from increased activity with new school openings and construction of local parks, along with other developments. Located in an underserved retail submarket, the asset features in place rents significantly below market with sticky tenancy with over 16 years of tenure at the site.

Little York Plaza, a vintage shopping center built in 1997, enjoys an impressive 98.3% occupancy rate. Situated on 11.45 acres, the property is anchored by Seller's Bros, Houston's leading Hispanic grocery chain, part of the larger La Michoacana brand portfolio. The center boasts a diverse tenant list featuring Dollar Tree, Melrose Family Fashions and Aaron's Appliances. The property has seen positive leasing activity, recently signing a lease with Verizon.

Little York Plaza offers significant growth potential given its robust tenant mix, limited retail competition in the submarket and additional upside via a potential pad site development. This was a unique opportunity to acquire a cash flowing asset in a thriving macro-market that's seeing positive retail fundamentals. With no new development in the submarket, Little York Plaza is well-positioned to capitalize on upward pressure of submarket rents and thrive alongside the growing community.

JLL Capital Market's Investment and Sales Advisory team representing the seller was led by Senior Managing Director Ryan West and Senior Director John Indelli.

"Seller's Bros is part of the largest collection of Hispanic grocers in Houston as the La Michoacana brand continues to expand into new markets including Waco and Oklahoma City," said Indelli. "Little York saw significant interest from private investors due to potential rent growth upside and the strength of the assets anchor tenant. Overall, our Houston retail team is seeing significant increase in activity as retail fundamentals have remained consistent and the improved debt markets continue to create liquidity in the market and deepen our bidder pool".

With a steadily climbing population and in-migration trends, Houston has positioned itself as one of the most diverse cities in the U.S. The city's robust workforce and business-friendly environment have contributed to a remarkable 19% increase in job growth. Additionally, Houston proudly boasts the second most active new home market in the nation.

JLL Capital Markets is a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers. The firm's in-depth local market and global investor knowledge delivers the best-in-class solutions for clients - whether investment sales and advisory, debt advisory, equity advisory or a recapitalization. The firm has more than 3,000 Capital Markets specialists worldwide with offices in nearly 50 countries.

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