Rialto Capital, a national real estate investment and asset management company focusing on value-add investments and turnaround strategies for properties has recently purchased The Wells retail and mixed-use project in Maricopa, Arizona. Rialto Capital and Capital Development Southwest plan to aggressively market the property to prospective high-profile tenants.
The move presents an opportunity for restaurants, retail, hotels, offices and other businesses to enter a market with tremendous growth potential in a currently underserved community. Of the 122 acres that encompass The Wells, 61 acres remain available for development.
The Wells is located at 41650 W. Maricopa Casa Grande Hwy between Stonegate and Porter roads. Rialto’s attractive purchase price of the property will reset the land basis lower than the previous owner, Shea Properties, allowing them to aggressively pursue new deals. Extensive research conducted by Esri and Dunn & Bradstreet indicates there is currently more than $240 million in retail leakage to nearby cities due to a considerable undersupply of local retail service providers. Residents are forced to drive 20 minutes or greater to the Southeast Valley in order to fulfill most of their retail needs. Additionally, a Resident Survey conducted by the City of Maricopa indicates missing shops and restaurants like Kohl’s, Target, TJ Maxx, Olive Garden, Applebee’s, Chili’s and Applebee’s. According to City officials, residents are contacting the City weekly complaining that there are no shopping or restaurant options.
“We are thrilled about this new acquisition and our plans to enhance the lifestyle of residents of the City of Maricopa by positioning this key center to offer more convenient retail, restaurants, office space, hotels and multifamily,” said James Mullany of Rialto Capital.
The project is immediately surrounded by 20 housing developments boasting over 17,000 homes and numerous sports, recreation, entertainment complexes and world-class health care facilities that attract upward of 1 million visitors each year. The growth potential for the immediate neighborhood is expounded by an additional 5,500 lots currently in process of development by top residential homebuilders in the area.
In addition, the lack of retail in Maricopa has driven up revenues for existing local stores, which often outperform other company stores located throughout Arizona. For example, Maricopa locations for Fry’s Foodstore (Kroger), Petclub, Subway and Ace Hardware Store are among the top performing in the state.
Existing retail centers have high occupancy. Retail market vacancy in Maricopa is only 5.8 percent.
The acreage offers parcels to accommodate a wide variety of users, from smaller pad lots along the frontage, to larger lots for anchor retailers, hotels, office and multifamily. Current tenants include Wal-Mart Supercenter, Banner Health Center, McDonald’s, Papa John’s, State Farm, Cricket Wireless, Great Clips and other national and local retailers.
From 2000 to 2010, Maricopa experienced more than 4,080 percent population growth and was the fastest-growing small city in the United States, according to the U.S.Census Bureau.
“Rialto Capital is aggressively seeking commercial property investment opportunities in Arizona,” said Mullany. “Our company has a long track record of success in creating profitable commercial properties, and we see a lot of potential opportunity in The Wells and other properties like it around the state,” he said.
For more information about Rialto Capital, or to request photos or schedule an interview contact Melissa Rein.
