Wood Investments Companies Acquires Third Mountain West Property in Seven Months
Wood Investments secures signed leases with HomeGoods, Sierra Trading Post and Petco at recently purchased retail property in Billings, Montana
BILLINGS, Mont. – RealEstateRama – Wood Investments Companies, Inc., a commercial real estate investment and management company specializing in retail, announced today the acquisition of a 67,000-square-foot retail building formerly occupied by Big Bear Sports Center located in the heart of Billings, Montana’s main retail corridor. The purchase price was $4.6 million for the 5.19-acre property. This is Wood Investments’ first Montana property and the company’s third acquisition in the Mountain West region in the last seven months.
According to Greg Vujnov, Wood Investments Companies’ chief operating officer, the building represented a great value-add opportunity for the company and, by the close of escrow, Wood Investments had secured signed leases with HomeGoods, Sierra Trading Post and Petco to occupy a multi-tenant building. The two TJX companies will occupy 42,000 square feet and Petco has leased approximately 15,000 square feet. Besides the anchor tenants, there will be approximately 10,000 square feet of space that can be demised.
Wood Investments will re-develop and demise the building to comply with tenant specifications. Improvements and upgrades will include updated facades, improved signage and other exterior enhancements.
“All three tenants, who are expected to open in 2022, will drive significant customer visits to the center,” notes Vujnov. Wood Investments will be leasing the remaining 10,000 square feet of space.
Vujnov also noted that “the property is well-positioned and with strong co-anchors — Sierra Trading Post, HomeGoods and Petco — we will market the available spaces to uses that will cross-shop our anchor tenants.”
The property, which is located at 2618 King Avenue West, is part of a much larger retail center and sits at the main intersection with approximately 27,488 cars per day on King Avenue West in the established and growing trade area of Billings, Montana, the largest city in Montana.
The new site offers plenty of visibility and accessibility and is surrounded by some of the strongest retailers in the industry including Costco, Home Depot, Walmart, Lowe’s, Best Buy, AT&T, and Pizza Hut. These tenants create a diverse daily needs and customer draw, according to Vujnov.
As the largest city in Montana and the only city in Montana with over a population of 100,000, Billings has grown 5.47% since 2010 and continues to show steady growth.
Chad Moore of Mountain West Commercial Brokerage in Salt Lake City, Utah represented Wood Investments Companies, Inc. in the purchase. Richard Martin of Mountain West Commercial Brokerage in Billings, Montana represented the seller, Wilson-Taylor Partnership, LLC, also of Billings.
“We are excited to make our entry into Montana,” said Vujnov. “The property is located along the primary retail corridor in Billings, at the busiest intersection in Montana.”
Vujnov continues, “The purchase of the former Big Bear Sports Center building is part of the company’s strategy to acquire and own high-profile shopping centers in dynamic and growing trade areas in the greater U.S. Mountain West region.”
Previous to the company’s acquisition of the Big Bear Sports Center building, in March 2021, Wood Investments purchased CentrePoint Marketplace, a 100%-occupied, 197,288-square-foot community shopping center in the city of Meridian, the second-largest city in Idaho. In mid-December 2019, Wood Investments purchased Canyon Park East and Canyon Park West, a two-property retail investment totaling nearly 300,000 square feet and 31.7 acres in Twin Falls, Idaho.
According to Vujnov, Wood Investments Companies continues to look for well-located value-add opportunities in the Mountain States as well as the Pacific Northwest where the company can incorporate its design and tenant influence to create sustainable and new shopping experiences.
About Wood Investments Companies, Inc.
Wood Investments Companies (WICo) is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California, and operated and managed by Patrick Wood with the WIC team consisting of partners Matthew Bush and Jeff Hopkins. WICo is a privately held commercial real estate investment and management firm that acquires, owns, operates and develops commercial retail and housing properties with a focus on value-add development and investments located throughout the Western United States. The company and its sister companies have over 40 years of combined experience and success in the commercial real estate industry. See www.woodinvco.com
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