AEW Capital Buys H-E-B-Anchored Retail Strip North of Austin

Boston-based AEW Capital Management scooped up a hot piece of retail real estate in North Austin.

The real estate firm purchased Bar W Marketplace, a strip mall in Leander anchored by Texas-based grocery store, H-E-B.

AEW bought the 190,000-square-foot center from a partnership led by Austin-based developer Barshop & Oles Company, JLL said in a news release. In addition to representing the seller, JLL represented the buyer to arrange financing.

Manulife Real Estate Finance secured a $28 million fixed-rate loan for AEW. John Hancock LIfe Insurance Company is the lender, according to mortgage documents. The loan cost $147 per square foot.

The shopping center is fully leased. In addition to the iconic grocery brand, tenants at the property include Chase Bank, Wells Fargo, Whataburger, Chili’s Torchy’s Tacos and 7Brew Coffee.

Bar W Marketplace, at 19348 Ronald Reagan Boulevard, is located at the intersection of State Highway 29 and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, about 30 miles north of Austin.

Leander is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. It added nearly 17,000 residents between 2020 and 2023, according to the Texas Demographic Center.

Due to volatility in the multifamily and office markets, real estate investors have taken to parking their money in retail real estate. The asset class has become especially lucrative since a decadelong lack of retail construction created a shortage of inventory.

Though it ticked up slightly in the past year, the vacancy rate for Austin’s retail market was still just 3.4 percent at the end of the third quarter, according to Partners Real Estate. It was 3.3 percent a year prior.