Hampton’s Mercury Plaza sells for $21M
HAMPTON — Mercury Plaza, a shopping center at the intersection of Mercury Boulevard and Power Plant Parkway in Hampton, has sold for $21 million, according to city real estate tax records.
The 98,066-square-foot plaza, with Walmart Neighborhood Market as its anchor, recently had been redeveloped and expanded by Branch Properties, said its chief investment officer, Jesse Shannon.
The Atlanta-based firm acquired the site late 2017 for roughly $24 million, according to city records. In the three years since, the company has invested $2.6 million, made another $3.6 million selling off some parcels, built a new space to bring in Rack Room Shoes, plus added another 10,000 square feet of retail space.
“While this year has brought forth significant challenges, we are focused on delivering grocery-anchored, essential retail assets that can weather economic uncertainty, as evidenced by our investment returns with Mercury Plaza,” Shannon said in a company release Thursday.
For Hampton, the sale means more than just another commercial real estate property changing owners. The Mercury Boulevard and Coliseum Central business corridor has lots of traffic, rooftops, homes and incomes, city economic development director Chuck Rigney said.
“I think it’s a demonstration
of the strength of the retail corridor,” Rigney said “The type of stores that you’ve got, people still want to go to these stores.”
Most retail centers are staying afloat in the city, with nearby Power Plant of Hampton Road making a resurgence with the presence of Rosie’s Gaming Emporium.
Elsewhere on Mercury Boulevard, Riverpointe Shopping Plaza is also doing better following a $60 million investment by a Georgia-based firm a few years ago to overhaul the property.
Other shopping centers, such Willow Oaks Village Square in Fox Hill, which has a Harris Teeter grocery anchor, has several vacant spaces, something Rigney hopes the city and its property owner can turn around.
The pandemic shutdown in early spring hasn’t helped. It wreaked havoc on businesses, everything from restaurants to retail, with hundreds of business seeking state and federal financial assistance to, pay rent, make payroll and survive. Dozens of businesses and national chains laid off workers, some had to close permanently.
Others filed for bankruptcy protection, including the owners of two popular malls in Hampton Roads: the Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake and the Patrick Henry Mall in Newport News.
The malls have more overhead to consider, but stores at Mercury Plaza have different price points that didn’t put them in as vulnerable of a position, Rigney said.
“They were able to weather some of the storm a little bit better than the malls,” Rigney said.
“Even in the teeth of COVID, which I’m sure had some effect, that’s pretty good money made in three years’ time under great circumstances.”