The financially troubled Shops at Somerset Square retail property in Glastonbury, anchored by upscale tenants that include Jos. A Bank, Chico’s, White House Black Market and Max Fish, recently sold to a Memphis, Tennessee real estate development company for $30.1 million, property records show.
Poag Shopping Centers purchased the 115,000-square-foot lifestyle shopping center on Glastonbury Boulevard from Brookfield Properties.
The property had been in receivership after Brookfield missed debt payments, according to Joshua Poag, Poag Shopping Centers’ president and CEO.
The property previously traded hands in 2016 when New York real estate investment company Rouse Properties bought it for $42 million, property records show. Brookfield Properties fully acquired Rouse that same year.
Poag is a developer of lifestyle centers with a portfolio that includes projects in Texas, Illinois, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, California and Mississippi. But it also has strong ties to Connecticut: it was the original developer of the Promenade Shops at Evergreen Walk in South Windsor, Poag said. Somerset Square is the only property Poag currently owns in Connecticut and is currently not entertaining other deals in the state.
Poag said his company’s plans for Somerset Square include finding new tenants to fill vacant spaces and helping bring new energy to the plaza.
He said his company is in talks with three restaurant operators to take over the former Max Amore’s restaurant space. The focus will be on creating a lifestyle-center vibe with new restaurants, boutique health facilities (like a yoga or indoor bicycle studio) and health and beauty retailers.
In addition to filling empty spaces, several leases will expire in the next few years that could lead to some tenant changeover, Poag said.
“There is some vacancy we need to fill, but this is an asset that can be turned around,” Poag said Wednesday morning.
He estimated the current occupancy rate was around 85%.
Poag said there will be some physical improvements to the property, but overall it remains in good shape. Somerset Square was built in 1990 and sits on 13.62 acres.
According to its website, the Glastonbury shopping center currently has 30 tenants including office, retail and restaurant users. Since 2019, Max Amore and Victoria’s Secret both closed their locations in the shopping center.