Arc Capital and Milan Capital Buy San Jose Shopping Center

Arc Capital Partners and Milan Capital Management have scooped up a 650,500-square-foot shopping center in San Jose for $95 million — $80 million less than it sold for three years ago.

The Los Angeles- and Orange-based investors bought The Plant, an open-air retail center at 1 Curtner Avenue, south of Downtown, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The seller was Necessity Retail REIT, based in New York. The deal works out to $146 per square foot.

Necessity Retail bought the 55-acre shopping center in 2022 for $175 million, or $269 per square foot. The real estate investment trust acquired The Plant as part of a $1.3 billion commercial investment package of 81 properties.

The three parcels at The Plant were valued by the Santa Clara County Assessor in January at $156 million.

The shopping center at Curtner Avenue and Monterey Road has more than 50 stores, including Target, Home Depot, Best Buy, Famous Dave’s, Panera Bread, Applebee’s Grill + Bar, Ross Dress for Less and Ulta Beauty. There’s parking for 3,000 cars.

Necessity Retail REIT retained ownership of the big-box building occupied by Home Depot. Target also owns its own retail building, which wasn’t included in the recent deal.

In a separate deal, Milan Capital bought a long-vacant building that once housed Toys ‘R Us and Babies ‘R Us for an undisclosed price.

Milan Capital often renovates the properties it purchases, but it isn’t clear what it plans for The Plant.

“We focus our efforts on properties in need of leasing, renovation and stabilization measures,” Milan Capital states on its website. “Our mission is to identify and acquire unique properties in strategic locations where, over a three-to-five-year period, we can grow cash flow for the present and enhance value for the long term.”

The Plant at Curtner Avenue and Monterey Road opened in 2007 as a redevelopment on the site of a former General Electric motor plant, in an area with a dense residential population but few retailers. Some of the old GE structures were retained in the development.

— Dana Bartholomew