Local investor acquires Natural Grocers store in record-breaking sale

A retail property leasing Natural Grocers sold for $6.86 million in Denver. 

NG Tower LLC purchased the 13,300-square-foot retail property at 18471 Green Valley Ranch Blvd. in Denver from sellers Equity Ventures Commercial Development and Wall Development. The sale set the nationwide pricing record for a fee-simple Natural Grocers store. Cory Gross of Marcus & Millichap represented both sides of the transaction. 

According to Gross, Equity Ventures Commercial Development is the preferred developer of Natural Grocers and develops each of their store locations. The national grocery store chain pre-leased the property in 2019. Soon after, Equity Ventures Commercial Development and Wall Development broke ground on the property. Natural Grocers leases the property under a 15-year, NNN lease. 

While NG Tower LLC has a portfolio of other local net-leased properties in the area, this was the buyer’s first grocery store purchase. However, Gross said the location had a greater influence on the buyer’s decision to purchase than the store type. 

“The property is in a heavily trafficked area with lots of new residential growth,” Gross said. “The buyer was interested in it even before he knew the tenant.” 

“We worked with the developer well before any of the vertical construction on the master development began. My client had interest in controlling the hard corner on the development to add to his long-term portfolio,” Gross said.

While there are other grocery stores nearby, Gross said this store will fare well and fill a void in the market, being the first and only health foods store of its kind in the area. 

Gross anticipates that COVID-19 will not disrupt the success of the store either.  

“Grocers have stepped forward to fill the gap created by closed restaurants. From early 2015 until March of this year, food and drinking places continued to surpass grocery stores in sales. This trend shifted last month when the grocery stores reported a 26.9 percent jump in sales, while food services and drinking places reported a decline of 26.5 percent,” Gross said.

Area residents can expect to see the new Natural Grocers open within weeks. 

Featured in CREJ’s May 20-June 2, 2020, issue