Retail Properties of America acquires properties in Falls Church and Leesburg

Published January 26, 2015 by Robert Powell, III

Retail Properties of America Inc. has acquired Merrifield Town Center in Falls Church and Fort Evans Plaza II in Leesburg for $121.5 million.

Merrifield Town Center, acquired for $56.5 million, has 85,000 square feet of street-level retail beneath two high-rise residential buildings. The center sits at the main entrance to the Mosaic District, a 31-acre mixed-used urban-centric project, which includes a hotel and retail, office and residential space.

Merrifield Town Center is one mile from the Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metrorail station and is surrounded by an upper-income neighborhood, with average household income of $141,000 and population of 142,000 within a three-mile radius. The town center  was developed in 2008 and is completed leased, with tenants such as  XSport Fitness and a variety of small shops and restaurants such as Chipotle, Panera Bread and Noodles & Co.

Fort Evans Plaza II was acquired for $65 million. The property is a 229,000 square foot power center that is currently 98 percent leased to a mix of national tenants including Marshalls, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dollar Tree and Five Below. Fort Evans is situated in Loudoun County, one of the wealthiest counties in the nation, with average household income of $157,000 and population of 107,000 within a five-mile radius.

As a result of these transactions, the company now owns more than 2.9 million square feet of space in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based Retail Properties of America, Inc. is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that invests in shopping centers. As of Sept. 30, it owned 218 retail properties representing 31.1 million square feet.