One of the largest shopping centers in Austin is changing hands.
Big V Property Group bought Southpark Meadows I and II, located at Interstate 35 and Slaughter Lane, in the company’s fifth Texas purchase, the Austin American Statesman reported. JLL Capital Markets arranged and closed the deal.
https://www.statesman.com/story/business/economy/2022/11/02/austins-southpark-meadows-retail-center-getting-new-owner-upgrade/69613744007/
Blackstone sold the almost 1-million-square-foot development that has Walmart, JCPenney, Target and Hobby Lobby as anchor tenants.
“We are very excited to be entering the Austin market with such a premium asset,” Big V Property Group CEO Jeffrey Rosenberg told the newspaper. “We have some great plans for Southpark Meadows, and we are looking forward to working with the Austin area officials on improving and upgrading the center.”
Adding a new playground that will serve the greater community as well as upgrading the parking lots, landscaping, painting and sanitation throughout the property are among Big V’s initial plans for the shopping center.
Southpark Meadows and the 3-mile radius around it has seen a 92 percent population increase since 2020. That’s what made it attractive for Big V, which owns and operates more than 9 million square feet of retail across 57 centers in Texas, Arizona, Colorado and spots east of the Mississippi River.
Southpark Meadows was redeveloped into a shopping center in the mid-2000s after about two decades as an outdoor music and events venue that brought in acts such as U2 and the Police in the ’80s and R.E.M. and Pearl Jam in the ’90s.
Austin’s retail market, which is currently going strong with a 95 percent occupancy rate, took a big hit during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and had a 1.5 percent drop in occupancy, which left it with about 770,000 square feet of empty space.
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