First Washington Realty Pays $65M+ for Two Grocery-Anchored Shopping Centers in Minnesota and Missouri
First Washington Realty has acquired two grocery-anchored shopping centers in the Midwest for a combined price exceeding $65 million, the Bethesda, Maryland-based investment firm announced Sept. 17.
The acquisitions — The Village of Blaine in Blaine, Minnesota, and Liberty Corners in Liberty, Missouri — add a combined 345,493 square feet to First Washington Realty's national portfolio, which now spans 139 open-air properties totaling more than 21.9 million square feet across 21 states and Washington, D.C. The firm owns interests in and manages approximately $9.1 billion of assets.
The Village of Blaine: A Twin Cities Suburban Center
The Village of Blaine, located at 4335–4365 Pheasant Ridge Drive NE at the intersection of Interstate 35W and Lexington Avenue, is a 220,685-square-foot grocery-anchored center that draws approximately 3.3 million annual visits. First Washington Realty paid $45.8 million in cash for the property, or approximately $207.64 per square foot.
The center sits within one of the faster-growing areas of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, supported by more than 1,700 planned homes and rising household incomes in the surrounding community. The property also benefits from proximity to the National Sports Center, TPC Twin Cities, and Aveda's corporate headquarters, all located in Blaine.
Liberty Corners: Deepening a Kansas City Presence
Liberty Corners, located at 840 Missouri Highway 291 in Liberty, Missouri, is a 124,808-square-foot shopping center anchored by a 56,000-square-foot Cosentino's Price Chopper grocery store — an anchor that occupies roughly 45 percent of the property's total square footage. Additional tenants include Chipotle Mexican Grill and The Big Biscuit, alongside personal services businesses and restaurants.
The center is situated slightly more than one mile from Liberty Triangle along a major state highway, providing strong visibility and daily traffic. First Washington Realty described the trade area as serving an affluent and highly educated customer base with enduring demand for grocery-anchored retail.
The Liberty Corners acquisition deepens First Washington Realty's existing footprint in the Kansas City market, where the firm has been investing for more than a decade.
Strategic Rationale and Executive Commentary
"We are thrilled to acquire The Village of Blaine and Liberty Corners, both of which are exceptional grocery-anchored centers that serve as essential retail destinations within their respective communities," said Amrit Chase, Senior Vice President of Investments at First Washington Realty.
"The Village of Blaine demonstrates our ability to identify properties within rapidly growing suburban markets with proven consumer demand and long-term value creation opportunities. Additionally, Liberty Corners expands and deepens our presence in Kansas City, where we have been investing for over a decade and have built a longstanding relationship with the Cosentino family, whose Price Chopper brand has served the community for generations," Chase added.
The two properties together imply a blended price of approximately $188 per square foot based on the reported combined consideration and total square footage. First Washington Realty's leasing, operations, and asset management teams are expected to oversee both properties going forward.
Market Context: Grocery-Anchored Retail Demand
The acquisitions reflect continued investor interest in grocery-anchored and necessity-based open-air retail, a segment that has attracted institutional capital in part because grocery anchors generate frequent customer visits and tend to support adjacent service, restaurant, and convenience tenants. That traffic profile makes such centers less dependent on discretionary retail spending than traditional enclosed malls or lifestyle-center formats.
Retail development has remained constrained in many established suburban markets due to elevated construction costs, financing conditions, and zoning barriers, making existing well-located centers with grocery anchors difficult to replicate. Blaine's planned residential pipeline and Liberty's established suburban customer base support the long-term demand thesis for both properties.
Industry estimates place 2026 grocery-anchored shopping center capitalization rates at a national average of approximately 6.7 percent, with institutional-quality grocery-anchored assets generally trading at tighter yields. That figure is directional context for the segment and does not represent a confirmed rate for either First Washington Realty acquisition.
First Washington Realty describes itself as a vertically integrated institutional real estate investment firm focused on grocery-anchored and necessity-based shopping centers, with a stated strategy of acquiring well-located neighborhood centers in markets characterized by strong demographics and high barriers to entry.