MPG announces land acquisition for Publix anchored shopping center

Morgan Property Group of Charlotte said Tuesday that it has acquired 18+ acres of vacant land from United Dominion Realty Trust in Hanover County for a shopping center. The price was not disclosed.

The property, located along Mechanicsville Turnpike and Brandy Creek Drive, is adjacent to Hanover Village.  MPG said that Publix Supermarket Inc., based out of Lakeland, Fla., would serve as the center’s anchor tenant, making this the 12th store Publix has planned for the Richmond region.   

Publix will occupy 50,000 square feet, and there will be an additional 13,000 square feet of strip retail available for lease.  Morgan Property Group said an outparcel that fronts Mechanicsville Turnpike would be developed in conjunction with the shopping center.

This will be the 31st retail project developed by MPG in the Virginia through its affiliates since 2004.  In Hanover County, MPG previously developed a freestanding Walgreens at the corner of Mechanicsville Turnpike and Lee Davis Road, and a retail shopping center at the corner of Chamberlayne Road and Atlee Road anchored by Walgreens, AutoZone, and Connects Federal Credit Union.  This will be the eleventh retail project MPG has developed in the greater Richmond area.

“We couldn’t be more proud to bring the first Publix Supermarket to Hanover County,” Trey Morgan, president of MPG, said in a statement.  “… We also look forward to working with Regency Centers, our new neighbor, in continuing the fine retail tradition they have built at this intersection with Hanover Village.”

Zach Means of Divaris Real Estate Inc. represented Morgan Property in the transaction, and Tred Spratley of Sigma National Inc. represented the seller.  Means continues to assist MPG with the leasing of the project.

Construction is expected to start on the project in the late summer, with an opening in the fall of 2018.

MPG said it focuses on neighborhood shopping centers and single-tenant retail projects for repeat national clients such as Publix, Walgreens, Wawa, and McDonalds. The company and its affiliates are developing multiple retail, mixed use, and medical development projects throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast.