Last Mile Investments acquires Wisconsin center

Cincinnati-based real estate firm Last Mile Investments has acquired a new property in the Milwaukee suburbs.

Galleria West Shopping Center in Brookfield, Wis. has been acquired from Galleria West Associates, which had owned and operated the center since the early 1980s. Terms were not disclosed in the off-market transaction.

The 65,000-sq.-ft. Galleria West is a collection of well-recognized tenants serving the affluent western Milwaukee market. Brookfield’s population posts an average household income of $140,000 within three miles of the center. 

Galleria West bookends a larger retail corridor which includes the 750,000-sq.-ft., Von Maur- and Sendik’s-anchored Corners, an upscale open-air lifestyle center, and the Poplar Creek mixed-use complex featuring more than 400 new luxury apartments.

“This is an exciting opportunity to showcase our firm’s value-added capabilities. As the retail synergy has shifted to the western part of Bluemound anchored by The Corners, we saw the potential that this center has as a long-time staple as a gateway to the corridor,” said David Birdsall, CIO and co-founder of Last Mile Investments. “We believe it will benefit greatly from a substantial re-investment that will allow it to stand out and serve as a destination for the area, and the Town of Brookfield could not have been a better municipal partner in this endeavor.”

LMI, a North American Properties Portfolio Company, will reimagine the center’s shopping experience. The company plans significant capital improvements, including a new 20-foot monument sign to enhance visibility for the tenants, major facade improvements to refresh the exterior, and enhanced patio opportunities to accommodate future restaurants and retail. Mid-America will lease the property.

The acquisition is the latest addition to Last Mile’s rapidly expanding portfolio, which has grown to 20 different metropolitan statistical areas.