Echo Realty Buys 8 Publix-, Harris Teeter-anchored Properties

Echo Realty has purchased a portfolio of eight Harris Teeter- and Publix-anchored properties in North Carolina, Florida, Virginia and Georgia, adding a little more than 500,000 square feet to the shopping center inventory of the Pittsburgh-based developer, owner and operator of commercial real estate.

Four Harris Teeter properties are in North Carolina, including The Village at Byers Creek in Mooresville (pictured), and one in Virginia, while two Publix properties are in Florida, and one in Georgia. Among the purchases are two free-standing Harris Teeter stores, one in North Carolina and one in Virginia. Harris Teeter is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co., in Cincinnati.

A month ago, Echo purchased Purcellville Gateway, a Harris Teeter-anchored center in Loudoun County, Va.

The company's recent acquisitions are part of a portfolio growth strategy for it to expand and diversify its asset base. "The centers fit perfectly with Echo's strategy of acquiring well-located centers anchored by the No. 1 or 2 grocer in the market," said CEO Tom Karet.

Founded by Pittsburgh-based grocer Giant Eagle but governed and operated as an independent entity, Echo has a portfolio of 190 properties totaling more than 9 million square feet of retail space in the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Midwest.