Phillips Edison expands joint venture with Northwestern Mutual

• The venture, Grocery Retail Partners I LLC, was extended by 10 years.
• The expanded venture will acquire 13 grocery-anchored shopping centers across eight states.
• Northwestern Mutual and PECO will hold about 86% and 14% of the venture, respectively.

Phillips Edison & Company said on Oct. 1 it amended and restated its joint venture with Northwestern Mutual and extended the term of Grocery Retail Partners I LLC by 10 years to 2036.

Phillips Edison expands joint venture with Northwestern Mutual

The expanded venture will acquire 13 grocery-anchored shopping centers now owned and operated by PECO. The portfolio is valued at about $377.5 million.

Northwestern Mutual and PECO will keep about 86% and 14% interests in the venture, respectively. PECO said it will continue to provide leasing, asset management and property management services and earn recurring fees from those services.

The company said the expansion creates incremental investment capacity to fund future acquisitions, development and redevelopment opportunities.

Assets and timing

PECO said the 13 assets are in suburban neighborhoods across eight states. It said they are merchandised with necessity-based goods and services, including grocers, restaurants, medical retail, health, wellness and personal service uses.

The expansion will happen in stages. The first stage will seed about half the assets into the venture, and additional transfers under the existing agreement are expected by early 2027.

Following completion, PECO said its unconsolidated joint venture portfolio is expected to include more than 40 shopping centers across 17 states. It said the portfolio will be valued at about $1.2 billion of assets under management.