Gayton Crossing is located at the intersection of Gayton, Gaskins and Quioccasin roads. (Courtesy CRC)
A Baltimore investment firm has bagged a West End retail property for its entrance to the Richmond market.
Continental Realty Corp. last week purchased the bulk of Gayton Crossing Shopping Center at 9782 Gayton Road for $22 million, according to Henrico County records.
The firm acquired 160,000 square feet. Its deal did not include the 53,000-square-foot Kroger building or the 2,700-square-foot Wells Fargo branch. Kroger’s space is owned by New York firm Benenson Capital Partners and Wells Fargo owns its building, county records show.
Tenants in the storefronts now owned by Continental include restaurants Les Crepes and the Melting Pot, pet store Dog Krazy and Goldfish Swim School.
The seller was ShopCore, a San Diego-based subsidiary of financial giant Blackstone. Preferred Apartment Communities had purchased Gayton Crossing in 2019 for $29 million before being acquired by Blackstone and folded into ShopCore in 2022. ShopCore also sold the West Broad Village shopping center in Short Pump in 2022 for $94 million.
The Gayton Crossing deal was the first in the Richmond region for Continental Realty. The privately held firm invests in both retail and multifamily properties and has nearly $4 billion in assets under management.
Josh Dinstein
Josh Dinstein, Continental’s senior vice president, said in the retail sector the firm focuses on open-air shopping centers rather than enclosed malls, and that Gayton Crossing fits in with the rest of its portfolio.
“Richmond’s been a target market for a long time. It really checks all the boxes,” Dinstein said. “It’s got job growth, population growth and all the fundamental drivers that we look for.”
Dinstein said Gayton Crossing is between 70 and 75 percent occupied, down from the 88 percent occupancy it had when it sold in 2019. S.L. Nusbaum’s Adam Shor, Andrew Thacker, Bob Butcher, and Nathan Shor will handle leasing at the center for Continental.
“From our point of view, there are ways to improve (the shopping center), not least of all is bringing in new tenants. There are a lot of missing uses that just aren’t there,” Dinstein said, declining to specify which uses he could envision at Gayton Crossing.
He added that the firm will continue to hunt for deals in the Richmond region.
JLL’s Jordan Lex, Dean Sands and Danny Naughton brokered the May 1 sale. Henrico County most recently assessed the property at a combined $25.5 million.
Gayton Crossing was originally developed in the early 80s by S.L. Nusbaum and Woolfolk Properties.
It’s amazing how much of that space is parking lot they need to put in a parking deck and add 500 apartments to it to put that parking lot to good use.
Wait. Why are you getting downvotes saying too much parking lot …. oh, maybe it is because you are saying a parking deck should be built.