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How to Underwrite a Value-Add Retail Strip Center: A Case Study


Fully occupied. Every tenant below market.
Anchor lease expires in two years.

 

What’s your offer?

Here’s a deal like the ones I give my students to analyze — somewhat simplified, but should still be challenging. Curious what you’d pay for this property and how you’d get there.

The deal:

Four-unit retail strip, 6,000 SF total, fully occupied

Five-year hold

Each unit: 1,500 SF

Market rent: $24/SF

Rent roll:

— Unit A (coffee shop): $18/SF — lease expires Year 2

— Unit B (insurance): $22/SF — 3 years remaining

— Unit C (nail salon): $20/SF — month-to-month after Year 2

— Unit D (tax preparer): $21/SF — through Year 4

Operating expenses (Year 1):

— Taxes: $12,000

— Insurance: $4,500

— CAM: $6,500

— Management: 8% of EGI

— Growth: 2.5% annually


CapEx reserve: $3,000 contributed at closing, recovered at resale


Financing:

— 65% LTV, 6.75% interest, 20-year amortization

— Closing costs: 1.5% of purchase price


Exit:

— 7.5% cap on Year 5 NOI

— 5% cost of sale


Market context:

— Comparable properties trading at 7–8% caps

— Stable employment base, no meaningful new supply

The seller hasn’t named a price. That’s your job.


What would you offer — and why?

At what price do the return metrics — IRR, equity multiple, Year 1 DSCR, and year 1 cash-on-cash — tell a story you’d be comfortable defending?

I’ll post my model and walk through the numbers in a few days.

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