DRE sold Elmhurst Square shopping center in Portsmouth, Virginia.  The fully occupied, 66,250-square-foot center is anchored by Food Lion.

Hot Investment Deals in 2004

VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA -- It was a busy 2004 for Divaris Real Estate’s Investment Sales Group. The majority of DRE’s investment deals were completed by Michael Divaris, Alex Divaris, and Jason Oliver of the Investment Sales Group in Divaris’ Virginia Beach office.

      The group sold Elmhurst Square Shopping Center in Portsmouth, Virginia to Perrine Wheeler Investment Real Estate, a Norfolk, Virginia-based east coast real estate acquisition, development, leasing and management company. Located on 7.29 acres, the fully occupied, 66,250 square-foot shopping center is anchored by Food Lion.

      When Divaris sold the property in November, it was roughly two to three percent vacant. Originally developed in 1961, the property was sold by Tidewater Jewish Foundation and JRT Brothers Partnership. The property sits in a densly populated, middle-class neighborhood in Portsmouth. Food Lion is the only supermarket within a mile or two of the site.

      “I think that’s what drew investors to the property,” notes Alex Divaris, investment sales associate for DRE. “There is another Food Lion across the bridge, on the Chesapeake side, and a new Farm Fresh that opened at Victory Crossing, (the former Tower Mall site). There is also a Wal-Mart Supercenter that opened on the Chesapeake side, which obviously took some of the sales away from the Food Lion. But even with those lost sales, the Food Lion does very well."

      “We felt that it is a step above many of the other office buildings in the market, just because of the amenities it offers and the finishings of the building,” notes Divaris.

      Divaris closed another 2004 deal with the sale of Two Rivers Center, a 234,038-square-foot, mixed-use, service-oriented complex in Clarksville, Tennessee, anchored by Convergys and U.S. Factory Outlets. The center was developed in 1968, and it was renovated substantially in 1987. At the time of the sale, the property was close to 20 percent vacant. Divaris exclusively represented the owners of the property, Radiant Partners, LLC. of New York.

      “It was a dying mall that needed to be repositioned into an alternate use,” notes Divaris. “Retail had moved elsewhere in the city; so it was a great buy for someone who could come in and redevelop it into more of an office use for a destination purpose.”

      Another successful sale was that of a three-story, Class A office building, developed in 1996 in Chesapeake's Greenbrier area, formerly the headquarters of Armada Hoffler Holding Company. The property never went to market as Divaris, the exclusive listing agent, and its leasing and property manager, sold the building to a Hampton Roads investment group.  Armada Hoffler, which relocated its corporate office to The Town Center of Virginia Beach, was represented by Michael Divaris, president of Divaris Real Estate, Inc.

      Finally, Divaris sold a 31,723-square-foot office building in Virginia Beach to Racehorse Properties, LLC. Located in the Pembroke submarket, near The Town Center of Virginia Beach, the property is in the midst of a great deal of office development. A local developer owned the building, which was originally constructed in 1987.  It was fully leased to Huff, Poole & Mahoney, a full-service law firm, since May 1989.

      “They had the option of moving out and looking for new space or buying the existing building.  I think they liked the idea of owning their own building,” says Divaris, who sold the building to the partners of the law firm.

      Divaris Real Estate continues to lease the remaining 6,000 square feet of surplus space in the building.