Birmingham’s premier retail destination has a new owner
Alabama’s most star-studded retail center — an 870,000-sq.-ft. open-air property whose brands include Apple, Nordstrom Rack, Trader Joes, West Elm, and P.F. Chang’s — has been acquired by Federal Realty for $508 million.
The Summit —which is located at the intersection of Interstate 459 and U.S. 280 in Birmingham — sits between Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills, two of Birmingham's most affluent communities. The metropolitan market of some 1.2 million people boasts an average household income of $193,000.
"Opportunities to buy truly irreplaceable, dominant assets like The Summit don't come along often, and we can't be more excited about adding this property to our portfolio," said Federal Realty’s CEO Don Wood. "This property has exceptional mark-to-market opportunities over the next five years, and enhances and expands our already deep retailer relationships that we will be able to use to benefit many of our other assets.”
Federal’s portfolio of high-income customer mixed-use centers includes Village Pointe in Omaha, Neb., Santana Row in San Jose, Calif., and Assembly Row outside of Boston.
Other top brands in The Summit’s 110-plus tenants include AMC Theater, Barnes & Noble, Evereve, Gorjana, Kendra Scott, Lululemon, P.F. Chang’s, Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn.
The Summit is the sole Alabama location for more than 30 brands on the tenant Roster.
The Birmingham market houses the headquarters of PNC Bank, Vulcan Materials and Fannie Mae. The University of Alabama Birmingham holds 22,000 students and, less than one hour’s drive away, is the 40,000-plus student University of Alabama.
[READ MORE: JLL acquires Midtown Village in Alabama]
Federal jumped on the opportunity to acquire Birmingham’s most star-studded retail center to expand its central U.S. region, currently focused in towns surrounding Chicago, Omaha and Kansas City.
Founded in 1962, Federal Realty is one of the oldest REITs in the United States. Its portfolio includes grocery-anchored centers as well as high-level mixed-use centers.
