Competition heats up for vacant big box retail properties on the West Coast

NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF., Nov. 21, 2022 – JLL Capital Markets announced today that it has recently closed the sale of four former Sears development sites located across California in Fairfield, Ventura, Salinas and Sacramento. These transactions further demonstrate the rising investor demand for redevelopment opportunities as these recent sales bring JLL’s transaction volume of similar West Coast property trades to exceed $81 million and the overall square footage to over 1.5 million within the past 12 months.

JLL marketed the four properties on behalf of an undisclosed seller, and the properties were acquired by various California private investors, none of which were affiliated with the adjacent mall owner. The new owners all have unique plans to redevelop into a new retail use.

The properties include:

• 1420 Travis Boulevard, which is connected to Fairfield’s Solano Town Center and features the 115,210-square-foot box space, a 28,469-square-foot Dave & Buster’s and a Raising Cane’s outparcel pad development
• 3295 E. Main St. and 3310 Telegraph Rd., which consists of a 164,433-square-foot box space and a 14,130-square-foot 4 Wheel Parts outparcel located at the Pacific View Mall in Ventura
• 1700 N. Main St., a 138,436-square-foot box space within the Northridge Mall in Salinas
• 5901 Florin Rd., a 231,342-square-foot box space and 14,254-square-foot outparcel at the Florin Towne Center in Sacramento

These four properties are the latest in a string of nine, JLL-brokered trades throughout the West Coast.

Demand for available infill development sites is rapidly expanding in the West as investors continue to look for opportunities to redevelop these former boxes into higher-density residential uses or backfill the space with superior retail tenants looking for quality locations.

The JLL Retail Capital Markets team handling these nine transactions was led by Managing Director Gleb Lvovich and Senior Director Daniel Tyner, along with Managing Directors Geoff Tranchina and Bryan Ley.

“Each of these properties presented unique opportunities for investors to acquire infill redevelopment sites that will allow them to recreate a new experience at the property,” Tyner said.

“With limited big box vacancy in core markets and competition for infill sites from other sectors like industrial and multi-housing, the demand for prime redevelopment sites has never been greater,” Lvovich added.

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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Jones Lang LaSalle Americas, Inc. ("JLL") is a real estate broker licensed with the California Department of Real Estate, license #01223413.