Amherst Shopping Centre, Massachusetts, USA

In 2019, Warren Private acquired a 82k sq ft grocery-anchored neighbourhood retail centre in Amherst, Massachusetts, USA in conjunction with our US operating partner Crosspoint Associates.

Built in two phases in 1997 and 2005, the property is situated on an 11.5 acre site which also includes 380 surface car parking spaces. The property consists of nine retail units, six of which are arranged in a single-storey linear fashion at the rear of the site with the remaining three units being standalone units at the front of the site. It is a long-established trading location which has two strong anchor tenants, a 56k sq ft Big Y supermarket and a 10k sq ft CVS pharmacy, each of which has been trading at the property for over 20 years.

Amherst is a vibrant college town 80 miles west of Boston which has a core population of 40,000. In addition, the town is the location of the primary campus of the University of Massachusetts (“UMass”) which has a student population of 30,000, and is also the location of Amherst College one of the USA’s leading undergraduate colleges with a student population of 8,500. The property is located at the entrance to UMass and is just one mile away from Amherst College. As a result, it is the dominant centre in the local market.

Since acquisition, Crosspoint Associates have grown net operating income through re-lettings and effective cost management.

The investment period is five to seven years, and projected returns are strong at a pre-tax IRR of c.11% and a pre-tax profit of c.60% of investors’ original investment amount.