Merlone Geier Unloads SoCal Retail Center for $62M
The company sold a 16-building shopping center named Vernola Marketplace with 201,305 square feet
By Greg Cornfield October 28, 2022 5:45 pm
reprints
Investment firm Merlone Geier Partners has unloaded one of its retail assets in Southern California’s Inland Empire.
The company sold a 16-building shopping center named Vernola Marketplace with 201,305 square feet for $62 million, according to data firm Vizzda. Christopher Lupo and Victor Zonni with Parker House Furniture acquired the retail center for about $308 per square foot.
The buyer and seller did not return requests for comment.
The shopping center was built in 2007 on 27.8 acres at 6237 Pats Ranch Road in Jurupa Valley, at Interstate 15 and Limonite Avenue. Retail tenants include BevMo, Kirkland’s home goods, PetCo, fast food restaurants and Lowe’s Home Improvement.
According to Kidder Matthews’ third-quarter retail market report, the Inland Empire has a 6.8 percent vacancy rate, while average rent dipped to $19.14 per square foot. The average price per square foot is $230 per square foot.
Merlone Geier is one of the more active shopping center investment firms in Southern California. Earlier this fall, the company sold a 375,541-square-foot community shopping center in Los Angeles County for $45.3 million, and last year Merlone Geier acquired a grocery-anchored shopping center in the Inland Empire for $39 million.
Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.
