Grocery- and drug-anchored shopping center sets record in Orange County

LaSalle Investment Management has sold the Aliso Creek Shopping Center, a 49,149-square-foot, fully leased community shopping center with necessity-based anchors located along the Pacific Coast Highway in the Southern California community of Laguna Beach, Calif.

“The sale of Aliso Creek Shopping Center represents a high watermark not only for Orange County but for anchored shopping centers along the West Coast,” said Gleb Lvovich, Managing Director at JLL Capital Markets, which represented the seller. “The property generated extremely strong interest and a robust buyer pool with competitive offers from both private and institutional investors. The JLL team utilized our proprietary database, marketing platform and market-leading debt advisory to uncover a unique private buyer for a world class asset.”

The sales price and the new owner were not disclosed; however it marked the highest price-per-square-foot sold for an Orange County anchored shopping center.

Aliso Creek Shopping Center is situated on 4.2 acres at 30814-30936 Pacific Coast Highway in the coastal Orange County community of Laguna Beach, one of the most affluent communities in Southern California with average household incomes exceeding $198,900 within a one-mile radius of the property and an average housing value of $2.2 million. The location on the Pacific Coast Highway places the center along one of the most prominent and well-traveled roads in the county, with traffic counts exceeding 36,000 vehicles day. Anchored by CVS Pharmacy and shadow-anchored by Gelson’s Market, Aliso Creek Shopping Center is fully leased to a diverse mix of internet-resistant tenants, including Yoga Works, Starfish Laguna, Fantastic Sam’s, Pure Pilates, Chase Bank, Hand & Stone, Aliso Beach Animal Clinic and Z-Pizza.

“Aliso Creek Shopping Center offered investors the rare opportunity to acquire a coastal shopping center in Orange County, adjacent to one of the most highly desirable resorts in the western United States. Locations like this do not come available often,” said Daniel Tyner, a director at JLL Capital Markets. “But with it also being a grocery- and drug-anchored center, this is the sweet spot for investors today, making the marketing and offer process incredibly competitive, which lead to a terrific result for all parties.”