H-E-B anchored retail center trades hands in Leander, Texas

DALLAS, Dec. 2, 2024 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has secured the sale of Bar W Marketplace, a premier 189,507-square-foot H-E-B grocery-anchored retail center in Leander, Texas.

JLL represented the seller, a partnership led by Barshop & Oles Company. The purchaser was AEW Capital Management. JLL also represented the purchaser to arrange acquisition financing. Manulife Real Estate Finance prevailed in a highly competitive process to provide low leverage fixed rate financing to AEW.

Bar W Marketplace, located at 19348 Ronald Reagan Blvd., is strategically positioned at the southeast corner of Ronald Reagan Blvd. and SH-29 in Williamson County. This prime location offers easy access to major thoroughfares, ensuring high visibility and a steady flow of traffic. The center is surrounded by dynamic residential communities and ongoing developments, including master-planned neighborhoods and multifamily projects, enhancing its appeal as a leading retail destination in the area.

Leander, located in the bustling North Austin area, is recognized as the 4th fastest-growing city in the U.S. with a population over 50,000 between July of 2022 and 2023. This vibrant suburb offers an attractive blend of natural beauty and rapid development, fueled by significant population and household growth. The area boasts a consumer spending power of $4.3 billion within a five-mile radius, underpinned by a remarkable 369% increase in households since 2010.

Bar W Marketplace is a dynamic, 100% leased community retail center anchored by the renowned H-E-B grocery store. Built between 2022 and 2024, the property features five ground-leased pads and a diverse mix of national and regional tenants, including Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, Whataburger, Chili’s, Torchy’s Tacos and 7Brew Coffee. Attracting approximately 2 million visits annually, this bustling shopping destination boasts a strong tenant lineup that contributes significantly to the vibrant commercial landscape of Leander.

JLL Capital Market’s Investment and Sales Advisory team representing the seller was led by Senior Managing Directors Barry Brown and Chris Gerard and Director Erin Lazarus. JLL’s Debt Advisory team was spearheaded by Senior Managing Director Doug Opalka and Director Jackson Finch.

"Bar W Marketplace’s sale underscores the strong investor demand for strategically located, core grocery-anchored retail shopping centers," stated Brown. "As Leander continues its transformative growth, we anticipate Bar W Marketplace thriving within this expanding trade area."

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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Barshop & Oles Company, a privately owned full-service commercial real estate development and management firm, has been based in Austin, Texas since 1983. Specializing in grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers, BOC and its affiliates have developed, owned and managed over 5 million square feet of diverse properties across major Texas markets. Currently, BOC is engaged in managing approximately 2 million square feet of high-quality retail assets while also providing third-party retail property management and leasing services to institutional clients. For more information, visit www.barshop-oles.com.

For over 40 years, AEW Capital Management, L.P. (AEW) has provided real estate investment management services to investors worldwide. As one of the world’s largest real estate investment advisors, AEW and its affiliates manage $84.4 billion in private real estate equity, debt and listed securities across North America, Europe and Asia (as of June 30, 2024). Grounded in research and experienced in the complexities of the real estate and capital markets, AEW actively manages portfolios in both the public and private property markets and across the risk/return spectrum. AEW and its affiliates have offices in Boston, Los Angeles, Denver, London, Paris, Hong Kong, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Tokyo, as well as additional offices in eight European cities. For more information, please visit www.aew.com.

As of June 30, 2024. AEW includes (i) AEW Capital Management, L.P. and its subsidiaries and (ii) affiliated company AEW Europe SA and its subsidiaries. AEW Europe SA and AEW Capital Management, L.P. are commonly owned by Natixis Investment Managers and operate independently from each other. Total AEW AUM of $84.4 billion includes $38.9 billion in assets managed by AEW Europe SA and its affiliates, $4.9 billion in regulatory assets under management of AEW Capital Management, L.P., and $40.6 billion in assets for which AEW Capital Management, L.P. and its affiliates provide (i) investment management services to a fund or other vehicle that is not primarily investing in securities (e.g., real estate), (ii) non-discretionary investment advisory services (e.g., model portfolios) or (iii) fund management services that do not include providing investment advice.