Northwood shopping center put up for sale

Great Eastern shopping center on Woodville Rd., in Northwood. THE BLADE Enlarge | Photo Reprints

After buying the Great Eastern Shopping Center in Northwood just nine months ago, new owner Brixmor Property Group Inc. has put the 13-acre shopping complex up for sale.

Brixmor, which was called Centro Properties Group before it was purchased in June for $9 billion by the Blackstone Group's BRE Retail Holdings Inc., is asking $3.9 million for Great Eastern, which was built in 1956 and is at 2584 Woodville Rd. at South Wheeling Street in Northwood.

Cooper Commercial Investment Group, of Cleveland, has been hired to market the shopping center.

Brixmor's chief executive officer, Mike Carroll, a Toledo native, declined to comment on why the company has decided to sell Great Eastern.

Centro Properties, which was based in Melbourne, had owned Great Eastern and four other Toledo-area shopping centers — Alexis Park on Lewis Avenue at Alexis Road, Miracle Mile on West Laskey Road at Jackman Road, Southland Shopping Plaza on Byrne Road at Glendale Avenue, and Starlite Plaza on Monroe Street in Sylvania.

When Blackstone bought Centro's U.S. portfolio, it acquired the five Toledo area properties among 580 U.S. shopping complexes.

In October, Brixmor said it planned to spend $300 million to redevelop many of the properties formerly under Centro's control, but it has not released any redevelopment plans for the five area properties.

Steve Serchuk, a commercial real estate specialist with the Toledo office of Signature Associates, said Brixmor may be trying to unload Great Eastern to raise capital to redevelop its other properties.

"To me, it looks like they're just redeploying their assets," Mr. Serchuk said.

Great Eastern, with 339,000 square feet — and about 70 percent occupied — has struggled with a number of retailers there on low-rent, temporary leases, Mr. Serchuk said. The shopping center absorbed several tenants that had to leave the nearby Woodville Mall when it was closed because of safety hazards.

"Overall, that [Woodville Road] market is not very strong. Meijer is the most viable retailer over there," Mr. Serchuk said.