JLL Arranges $51M Sale and $33.15M Bank of America Financing for Carmel, Indiana Retail Center

JLL Capital Markets has arranged the $51 million sale and $33.15 million acquisition financing for Merchants Square, a 233,727-square-foot shadow-grocery anchored retail center located at 2140 E. 116th St. in Carmel, Indiana. Big V Property Group was the seller, Marquee Capital is the buyer, and Bank of America provided the acquisition loan, the firm announced Aug. 4, 2026.

JLL represented Big V Property Group on the disposition and also worked on behalf of Marquee Capital in arranging the debt through Bank of America. The transaction implies a price of approximately $218 per square foot based on the property's 233,727 square feet of gross leasable area.

Property Overview: Merchants Square in Carmel, Indiana

Merchants Square sits at the intersection of E. 116th Street and Keystone Parkway, one of Carmel's busiest corridors, generating approximately 71,000 vehicles per day. The center spans 21.25 acres across five buildings originally constructed between 1974 and 2001, and comprises 35 suites with approximately 1,009 parking spaces.

The property is shadow-anchored by Harvest Market, an 80,000-square-foot premium grocer that opened in May 2024 on an adjacent parcel. The grocer's opening has driven additional foot traffic to the center, according to JLL. Merchants Square attracts more than three million annual visitors.

The center reported 97% occupancy at the time of sale, with 40,095 square feet of new leases signed across 10 transactions since 2023. Approximately 70% of gross leasable area and income is attributable to national tenants, and in-place rents are approximately 20% below current market rates, presenting mark-to-market upside for the new owner.

Tenant Mix Anchored by Flix Brewhouse

The property's largest tenant is Flix Brewhouse, a cinema brewery concept occupying approximately 40,788 square feet. JLL described Flix Brewhouse as the top-performing theater within a three-mile radius. Additional tenants include Cost Plus World Market — which ranks as the top location in Indiana and in the top 4% of its locations nationally — along with Planet Fitness, Dollar Tree, Petco, and Aveda Fredric's Institute.

The tenant roster's experiential and service-oriented composition was cited as a key attribute of the asset. "Merchants Square represents an exceptional retail asset in one of the Midwest's most dynamic growth markets," said Managing Director Michael Nieder of JLL Capital Markets. "The property's strong occupancy, diverse tenant mix featuring experiential concepts like Flix Brewhouse and significant mark-to-market rent opportunity in a market with only 1% retail vacancy made this an attractive opportunity."

Carmel Market Context

Carmel has been ranked the No. 1 best small city in America by WalletHub and the No. 2 best place to live in the United States by U.S. News & World Report. The city has seen 20% population growth over the past 15 years, with more than 4,000 housing units currently in the development pipeline. Average household incomes within a five-mile radius of Merchants Square exceed $189,000.

Retail vacancy in the Carmel submarket stands at approximately 1%, according to JLL, reflecting a supply-constrained environment that supports the rent-growth thesis underpinning the acquisition.

Deal Team and Firm Backgrounds

The JLL Capital Markets Investment Sales and Advisory team was led by Managing Director Michael Nieder and Director Brian Page. Managing Director Christopher Knight and Director Matt Maksymec arranged the acquisition financing.

Big V Property Group is a family-owned retail real estate company with an 80-year operating history. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based firm manages more than 50 neighborhood and community shopping centers totaling 9.5 million square feet across 14 Sunbelt states, with additional offices in Murfreesboro, Tennessee; San Antonio and Austin, Texas; and Florida and New York.

Marquee Capital, formerly known as Berengaria Development, is a private real estate investment and asset management company that manages more than 2.5 million square feet of retail space and 650 senior housing units. Founded in 2008 as the real estate arm of Marcus Investments, the firm has completed transactions exceeding $800 million and currently oversees a portfolio with assets under management valued at more than $400 million. The company focuses on retail development, senior housing, and opportunistic investment partnerships across the United States.

JLL Capital Markets operates as a full-service global provider of capital solutions for real estate investors and occupiers, with more than 3,000 specialists in offices across nearly 50 countries.