Dhanani Picks up Park North Shopping Center for $115M

A major North San Antonio retail complex changed hands, marking one of the region’s largest shopping center trades this year.

West Palm Beach, Florida-based Sterling Organization sold the 45.6-acre Park North Shopping Center, adjacent to North Star Mall, for $115 million, the San Antonio Express-News reported. The buyer is Houston-based Dhanani Private Equity Group, marking its first acquisition in the Alamo City.

The 635,000-square-foot property is at 842 Northwest Loop 410 and is anchored by a Super Target. The sale did not include the Aloft hotel on Blanco Road or the former Sears building on San Pedro Avenue, which has been permanently shuttered. Sterling bought the retail center in 2016 for $81 million, netting a sizable gain after nearly a decade.

Park North was built in 2004 as an entertainment-driven retail center on the former site of Central Park Mall, one of San Antonio’s earliest enclosed malls. That property, opened in 1968, fell into decline by the 1990s and was demolished in 2003. Developers PGIM Real Estate and local investor Mark Granados restructured the site as a 24-hour shopping center, leaning heavily into dining and entertainment.

Today, Park North includes a mix of national, regional and local tenants, including Pinstack, Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, Norris Conference Centers, World Market and Outlaw Pickleball. The center draws roughly 7.1 million visitors annually, ranking it among the most heavily trafficked shopping destinations in the metro area, according to the outlet.

Sterling said in a press release that it boosted occupancy at the property from 73 percent to 93 percent during its ownership, including through the pandemic, when entertainment-heavy retail faced acute pressure. The firm continues to own other San Antonio projects, including Thousand Oaks Shopping Center and the Village at Stone Oak. It sold the Grandview Shopping Center for $21.9 million in 2017.

The deal is a beachhead for Dhanani in a tight retail market. According to Weitzman’s mid-year report, San Antonio retail occupancy is at a near-record 95.2 percent, driven by steady tenant demand and limited new construction. The metro has maintained occupancy above 90 percent for 15 straight years, commanding premium pricing.— Eric Weilbacher