DENVER, Nov. 4, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Brixmor Property Group (NYSE: BRX) ("Brixmor"), owner and operator of the largest wholly owned portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers in the United States, today announced it has added nine new small shop leases at Villa Monaco, dramatically improving the center's occupancy, enhancing the neighborhood center's merchandising mix and strengthening its position in the Denver market.
In the last year, Brixmor has completed nine small shop leases, totaling 18,000 square feet, with a variety of retailers, restaurants and services including Chen's Garden Restaurant, Las Tortugas Mexican Restaurant, MetroPCS, Cricket Wireless, KT Nails, Relax Adult Day Care, Blo Emporium and H&R Block. Brixmor also consolidated three small shop spaces to accommodate a 5,200-square-foot Aaron's store that is scheduled to open in early 2015.
This increase in leasing activity is a direct result of Brixmor's success in remerchandising Villa Monaco's single anchor space with a 55,700-square-foot Walmart Neighborhood Market, which has significantly improved occupancy at the center from 77 percent in September 2013 to 90 percent a year later. In 2013, Walmart Neighborhood Market replaced a formerly vacant King Soopers. To coincide with the opening of Walmart Neighborhood Market, Brixmor renovated the shopping center to create an enhanced environment, contributing to the strong follow-on leasing. The renovation included a new facade, upgraded lighting, landscaping and signage.
"Remerchandising Villa Monaco's single anchor space with a high quality grocer in Walmart Neighborhood Market has allowed us to effectively transform the center's merchandising mix, providing the area's consumers with a variety of attractive retail options to meet their everyday shopping needs," said Brian Finnegan, executive vice president of leasing at Brixmor Property Group. "We are pleased with our progress to date and anticipate this strong, follow-on leasing will continue to drive foot traffic and overall sales productivity at the center."
In addition to Walmart Neighborhood Market, the 122,139-square-foot neighborhood center includes a strong lineup of national in-line tenants including Dollar Tree, Starbucks, Wendy's and Chase Bank. Villa Monaco is ideally situated in a densely populated area with 182,000 people within three miles and conveniently located just one mile off I-25 on the southwest corner of S. Monaco Parkway and E. Evans Avenue.
For leasing information, contact Gavin Gray at (858) 202-1113 or gavin.gray@brixmor.com.
About Brixmor Property Group
Brixmor owns and operates the nation's largest wholly owned portfolio of grocery-anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers, with 522 properties aggregating approximately 87 million square feet of gross leasable area located primarily across the top 50 U.S. metro markets. Brixmor leverages its national footprint, local market knowledge and operational expertise to support the growth of its retail tenants. The Company is focused on maximizing the value of its portfolio through its extensive leasing capabilities and anchor space repositioning / redevelopment platform. Headquartered in New York City, the Company is the largest landlord to The TJX Companies and The Kroger Company. For additional information, please visit www.brixmor.com.
SOURCE Brixmor Property Group