Coro Realty pays $13.5M for property by Ponce City Market, Eastside Trail
Original story featured on Atlanta Business Chronicle June 23, 2021
Whole Foods Market at the Midtown Place shopping center
A CVS location across the street from one of Midtown’s most popular eating and shopping destinations has been purchased by a major Atlanta commercial realty company.
Atlanta-based Coro Realty Advisors purchased the CVS across the street from Ponce City Market for $13.5 million, according to Fulton County property deeds. Coro paid $240 per land square foot, according to Atlanta property transaction firm Databank Inc. It was the most expensive transaction on a land per square foot basis since Cousins Properties Inc. paid $245 per land square foot for a site in Tech Square that became the headquarters of Norfolk Southern. S&R Investments was the seller of the CVS. Fulton County values the property at $2.1 million. The deal closed on June 16.
The basics: The 1.2-acre property is located at 680 Ponce de Leon Avenue. Coro Realty’s vast Atlanta portfolio of 58 office, industrial, residential and retail properties includes the adjoining Midtown Place Shopping Center at 650 Ponce de Leon Avenue.
They said it: “Coro Realty constantly seeks opportunities," said the firm's president and managing partner Robert Fransen. "The property at 680 Ponce de Leon is adjacent to our Whole Foods-anchored Midtown Place Shopping Center. This is a long term investment that brings additional value to an already successful center and is consistent with our strategy of acquiring well-located, high quality real estate.”
What this means: The Midtown Place Shopping Center is anchored by a Whole Foods and includes Pet Smart, The Home Depot, and Staples. The Home Depot store, though a tenant in the shopping center, is not owned by Coro. Commercial real estate experts consider grocery-anchored retail will continue being attractive and aggressively pursued by investors. A year into a global pandemic grocery-anchored retail remains resilient and essential. Midtown Place Shopping Center is also surrounded by residential properties near the Eastside Trail.
What's next: Coro Realty's purchase gives the firm frontage on Ponce de Leon. A source familiar with the deal told the Atlanta Business Chronicle the purchase "just makes sense." That said, its location by the Eastside Trail would put Midtown Place at the top of any developer's list and attract potential investors seeking well located grocery-anchored retail. Coro now owning the entire shopping center also gives it more flexibility to sell the property or possibly develop it in the long term. According to sources close to the deal, though, Coro has no plans to redevelop right now.