Sterling Organization, a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based private equity real estate investment firm focused on the retail sector, announced the acquisition of a three-property core portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers totaling 277,057 square feet. The properties were acquired on behalf of Sterling's core, grocery-anchored shopping center fund series, Sterling United Properties (SUP). The portfolio includes two properties in the San Francisco Bay area, Safeway Burlingame in Burlingame, Calif. and Pleasanton Gateway Shopping Center in Pleasanton, Calif., along with Kapahulu Shopping Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. Collectively 99 percent leased, each property is anchored by a high-performing Safeway grocery store and is well positioned in an affluent, densely populated trade area. The centers all benefit from strong real estate fundamentals in land-constrained submarkets, with portfolio trade area demographics averaging more than 124,000 residents with average annual household incom