Tanger buys Alabama center — third acquisition this quarter

Tanger’s shopping spree continues — but this time with a full-price center. 

Tanger has acquired Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville, Ala., for $193.5 million using cash on hand and available liquidity. The company's 39th property, it is Tanger's third acquisition this quarter: Tanger Nashville held its grand opening in October, and Asheville Outlets was acquired by Tanger in early November.  

The 825,000-sq.-ft. Bridge Street property — Tanger's first open-air lifestyle center — is a full-priced center that houses more than 80 retail stores, restaurants and entertainment venues. Management expects the center to deliver a first-year return in the mid-eight-percent range.

More than 93% occupied, Bridge Street Town Centre’s retail roster is headed by Belk, H&M, Barnes & Noble, Dick's Sporting Goods and Old Navy. More than two dozen restaurants are on the bill, including Cheesecake Factory, Texas de Brazil and Bravo! Italian Kitchen. Main Event and the 14-screen Cinemark Bridge Street and XD headline its entertainment options. Lululemon, Sephora, Lovesac, Dry Goods, Victoria's Secret and Athleta are among its specialty retail brands.

"The addition of Bridge Street Town Centre is a natural extension of our capabilities and consistent with our long-term strategy of investing in dominant open-air retail centers in markets which benefit from outsized residential and tourism growth,” said Tanger president and CEO Stephen Yalof in a release announcing the acquisition. 

Bridge Street Town Centre is located within Cummings Research Park and near Redstone Arsenal, a 38,000-acre federal research, development, testing and engineering military base. The center is part of a larger mixed-use development that includes more than 500 hotel rooms, over 240 multifamily units with 300 more planned, and a fully-leased 144,000-square-foot office tower.

Tanger's centers, which comprise over 14 million square feet, are located in 20 states and in Canada and are leased to over 2,900 stores operated by more than 700 different brand name companies.