Investors buy Dublin retail complex, look for more purchases
An investment group has snapped up a big East Bay retail complex anchored by a Safeway store, paying an estimated $44 million, and saying it has begun to scout for other centers to buy.
Through a private fund, Loja Group earlier this month bought the Shops at Waterford retail center in Dublin in a deal arranged by commercial realty brokerages Colliers International and Eastdil Secured.
Loja Group’s purchase of the 125,000-square-foot retail complex is likely the vanguard of further acquisitions.
“We’re kind of a new kid on the block,” said Tom Engberg, the principal executive for Walnut Creek-based Loja Group. “We definitely are looking for other transactions and other properties.”
The investors also plan to spend plenty of cash to scoop up more retail centers.
“This first fund is in the process of raising $300 million in capital and once that capital is raised, our intent is to buy properties very similar to this one,” Engberg said. “This property is what we call core grocery anchored shopping centers.”
The Shops at Waterford, located at the corner of Tassajara Road and Dublin Boulevard, is considered a prime investment. The complex has very little vacant space.