Retail developer Ben Carter has announced a significant financial partnership with a New York-based real estate investment trust as he continues his acquisition of properties along historic Broughton Street.
The $50 million partnership with Acadia Realty Trust will help finance the first phase of the project, including 20 properties, with the opportunity to expand the investment in the future.
“The initial investment is $50 million in our joint venture, but we fully expect that there will be add-on investments as we go,” said Jon Grisham, senior vice president at Acadia.
Carter said Thursday he’s now eyeing a total of 35 properties, many of which are under contract or have closed, as part of his multi-million dollar plan to bring more retailers and restaurants to Broughton Street.
This is just the second investment in the Southeast for Acadia, whose developments are primarily concentrated along the upper East Coast and Chicago area.
“This is a new market for us, and speaking with our retailers at many of our street retail properties from D.C. up to New York — and in South Beach — one of the markets they told us they were focused on was Savannah, particularly the B Street district,” said Grisham.
Founded in 1998, Acadia Realty Trust is a publicly traded company with assets of $2.5 billion, focusing on the acquisition or redevelopment of what it describes as “high-quality retail properties in key street/urban retail corridors” in densely populated metropolitan areas. A real estate investment trust, or REIT, typically pools investor money to invest in commercial real estate.
In a statement, Carter said Acadia’s experience with urban redevelopment complements the Broughton project.
“Not only is the company’s (Strategic Opportunity Fund) well capitalized, but Acadia’s leadership is streamlined and provides us with an excellent opportunity to work with decision makers,” said Carter.
Grisham said his firm is involved in projects in places such as Brooklyn in New York.
“These are re-emerging markets that are growing exponentially,” he said. “So we see many of the same challenges and development considerations (as Savannah).”
Carter’s past and present projects have often involved partnerships with institutional investors or real estate investment trusts.
Carter partnered with Simon Property Group to build the Mall of Georgia in Gwinnett County outside Atlanta in the mid ’90s, one of his first projects, and later on the 1.2-million-square-foot St. Johns Town Center retail complex in Jacksonville, Fla. He is currently looking to sell his stake in St. Johns, valued at $750 million with the help of a New York brokerage firm.
More recently, Carter partnered with North Carolina-based Tanger Factory Outlet Centers to develop the 400,000-square-foot outlet mall in Pooler, where construction is underway.
The developer also has launched a new branding campaign, called B Street District, to emphasize his whole-street approach to revitalizing Broughton into an internationally recognized destination akin to Charleston’s King Street.
Carter said more retailer announcements will be made soon.