Edina strip mall sells in $26.4M deal

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An Edina strip mall just south of the Galleria shopping mall sold for $26.4 million last week, according to a certificate of real estate value.

The property features a variety of tenants such as Ethan Allen, Geico, Bruegger’s’ Bagels and Crumbl, a bakery known for its extravagant cookies.

The property, at 7101 France Ave. in Edina, is called Rue De France. Built in 1972, the retail location was purchased by Phillips Edison and Co., which is based in Cincinnati.

The seller is Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, which is in Massachusetts. Anna-Jean McGillvray, a principal at BentallGreenOak or BGO, a portfolio management firm, said the group was involved in the sale.

“We had felt that [the property] was at the end of our horizon, but that’s it,” McGillvray said Monday.

According to a LinkedIn description, BGO says it is a part of SLC Management, which is itself an asset management business of Sun Life.

McGillvray described the Rue De France as “unanchored.”

“Ethan Allen is the largest tenant in the center, but we would consider it unanchored retail, which is in favor right now amongst investors, which is another reason why we decided to sell it.” McGillvray said.

Phillips Edison did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

David Daly, CBRE senior vice president, said that Rue De France has performed well in the past and that he expects it would continue to be a “good asset” particularly because there is a lack of retail development.

According to Phillips Edison’s website, it owns a handful of retail properties throughout the Twin Cities metro along with property in both Litchfield and Rochester. Among the properties in the Twin Cities, this is the second Edina location to be added to the portfolio. Phillips Edison purchased Centennial Lakes Plaza — anchored by Whole Foods — for $68.6 million in 2022.

Daly said Phillips Edison purchasing the property is “no surprise” given its presence in the market but says that the move is out of the ordinary for the firm because it typically targets grocery store-anchored shopping centers. However, Daly said, the Rue De France is directly across the street from a Lunds & Byerlys grocery store, which serves as something of an anchor.

“I think them jumping into unanchored is probably proving that there is interest in these unanchored centers,” Daly said. “This site is across the street from a successful Lunds grocery store and multifamily, and there’s more to come in the district that’s been planned and proposed today; so I think maybe it doesn’t have a direct anchor associated with it, but it’s certainly in a corridor of a substantial amount of retail traffic.”

According to Hennepin County 2024 tax records, the property was valued at $20 million.

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