A major portion of The Shoppes at Fox River shopping center in Waukesha has been sold for $55 million, state records show.
The sale of the retail development at the intersection of West Sunset Drive and Oakdale Drive was one of two properties recently sold for a combined $68.5 million by Farmington Hills, Michigan-based RPT Realty, the real estate investment trust announced last week. The other shopping center sold recently was East Town Plaza, located at 2119 Zeier Road in Madison.
RPT Realty did not disclose the buyer of either property, and a spokesperson did not immediately provide that information. According to the transaction records recorded with the state, the company sold The Shoppes at Fox River to SBV-Fox River LLC, an affiliate of Walled Lake, Michigan-based Etkin Co.
Joanne Etkin, partner at Etkin, said the company owns shopping centers in several cities and is a developer in Michigan. This acquisition represents the company’s first property it owns in Wisconsin, she added.
Major tenants at the roughly 55-acre Shoppes at Fox River, which was developed on a former Fleming Cos. property, include Target, Pick ‘n Save, Hobby Lobby, T.J. Maxx, Petco and ULTA Beauty.
Etkin said there are only two vacant spaces, one at 7,500 square feet and another at roughly 1,000 square feet.
Minnetonka, Minnesota-based The Opus Group commenced construction of the initial phase of The Shoppes at Fox River in 2008, with a second phase commencing in spring 2012. This was one of the few retail developments built in the metro Milwaukee area during the Great Recession.
RPT Realty noted in a news release that the recent sale of these two Wisconsin properties marked the completion of its disposition program.
“We are very happy to have completed our roughly $200 million disposition program almost a year ahead of schedule with the sale of these two properties,” said Brian Harper, president and chief executive officer of RPT Realty. “The completion of this program has meaningfully strengthened our cash flows and provided us with ample liquidity to fund our strategic business plan.”
