Chicago Firm Newport Capital Partners Purchases Jennings Power Center from Sansone Group --- Investing in the North County submarket of Jennings, Normandy and Ferguson

May 12, 2015 – St. Louis, Missouri-based Sansone Group is excited to announce the sale of the Buzz Westfall Plaza on the Boulevard to Chicago-based Newport Capital Partners. The transaction closed on May 7, 2015 with a purchase price of $30.65 million - the acquisition had been in the works since July 2014. Sansone Group, who developed the 50 acre, 372,098 square foot center, has been retained to continue managing and leasing the center. The center is located at Lucas & Hunt and W. Florissant Roads in the heart of the Jennings, Normandy and Ferguson markets.

Derrick McGavic, a Managing Principal of Newport Capital Partners explained, “Newport targets  neighborhood and community retail/mixed used properties with convenience/ necessity based  merchandising mix located in high population areas with proximity to Innovation Districts and Innovation Cultivators in the Central U.S. More specifically, the firm focuses on Metro areas that possess significant exposure to Fortune 1000 Company headquarters, medical facilities, higher education systems, and robust transportation systems.”

He further said, “We believe in investing locally in communities containing our assets. Expansion plans are underway for the center and we are hopeful it will  generate  jobs in the area.”

Newport Capital Partners bought the property on behalf of Newport Capital Partners Fund I, which includes Franklin Templeton and three large Illinois-based public pension plans.  

Plaza on the Boulevard, which broke ground in May of 2005, was a Sansone Group redevelopment project of the former site of Northland Shopping Center. Northland was originally built in 1955 with a free-standing Famous Barr store, but after that anchor store closed in 1994, the center fell into blighted conditions causing the majority of the remaining tenants to vacate by the end of the decade.

Today, the center is anchored by a 126,000 square foot Target and a 63,000 square foot Schnucks Supermarket, both having opened in October of 2006. The center has attracted scores of national tenants and first time tenants to the area. 

“Sansone Group originally took on the redevelopment project when no other developers were interested in the area. The success of the center shows that Sansone Group and Newport Capital believe that there is opportunity in the shopping center and beyond. We intend to maximize development opportunity in the community,” says Jim Sansone, a Principal of Sansone Group.

About Sansone Group

Founded in 1957 by Anthony F. Sansone, Sr., Sansone Group is a nationally recognized St. Louis-based commercial real estate firm that specializes in property and facility management, brokerage, land investments, development and redevelopment of retail, industrial, office and residential properties. Currently Sansone Group has over 20 million square feet of property in 13 states. Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, Sansone Group has offices in Overland Park, Kansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas, Knoxville, Tennessee, Nashville, Tennessee, West Palm Beach, Florida, Coral Springs, Florida and Miami, Florida. Additional information about the company and all available properties can be viewed at www.sansonegroup.com.

About Newport Capital Partners

Newport Capital Partners is a privately held, boutique real estate investment management firm focused on Core-Plus and Value-Added, neighborhood and community retail and mixed-used properties located in the central United States. Catering to institutional clients, Newport invests on behalf of pension plans through a commingled fund series and joint venture relationships. A vertically integrated operator, the institutional platform contains portfolio management, acquisitions, asset management, property operations, accounting and reporting. For more information, please visit newportcapitalptrs.com.