The joint venture of Bain Capital and 11North Partners has acquired, for about $212 million, a portfolio of three open-air, lifestyle retail centers in Oklahoma City. The strategic partnership was formed in April 2024 and focuses on acquiring and operating such assets across the U.S. and Canada.
The portfolio comprises Nichols Hills Plaza, The Triangle at Classen Curve and Classen Curve, which together total 327,679 square feet on almost 40 acres, with an average occupancy of more than 97 percent. All three properties are in the growing, affluent Nichols Hills submarket.
READ ALSO: Retail Investment Sales Volume Rises
The assets previously traded in 2014 for $51.8 million, according to CommercialEdge information. They’re anchored by Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s and tenanted by more than 50 unique-to-market retailers, including Lululemon, Warby Parker, West Elm, Anthropologie, Sephora, and Kendra Scott.
The grocery-anchored properties also benefit from traffic volumes amounting to 4.3 million visitors per year, as well as their proximity to the city’s two largest private employers, Integris Baptist Medical Center and Chesapeake Energy Headquarters.
The founder of both Bain and 11North, Brian Harper, put the acquisition in the context of the resilience that open-air retail centers have shown across multiple economic cycles and their long-term fundamentals.
Oklahoma City’s retail market still steady
Oklahoma City’s retail market is reasonably steady, as a slight rise in vacancy, to 5.6 percent, seems to be balanced by an increase in leasing activity, especially in Class A space, from a mix of local and new-to-market retailers, according to a first-quarter report from NAI Sullivan Group. The overall average rental rate is $15.90 per square foot, also per NAI Sullivan.
A modest 564,000 square feet of retail space (versus an inventory of about 103 million square feet) is under construction. The largest two properties under way are both in Edmond, and both are delivering this year.
