The Whole Foods-anchored shopping center at Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road has a new owner. A Florida private equity firm is betting $93.2 million on East Cobb's retail corridor.
Sterling Organization, based in West Palm Beach, announced Wednesday, July 22, that it purchased Merchants Walk from EDENS, the open-air retail developer that has operated the center since a 2011 redevelopment. CBRE's National Retail Partners team, led by Kevin Hurley and Matt Karempelis, brokered the deal.
The 271,992-square-foot center spans roughly 30 acres and is 90% leased. That leaves about 26,000 square feet of vacant space. Sterling has not announced specific plans for filling it.
Jordan Fried, a principal at Sterling Organization, called the property "well-located" and said it "maintains a deep roster of high-performing national tenants with long operating histories at the center."
What's there now
Merchants Walk's tenant roster includes Whole Foods Market, Marshalls, PetSmart, Old Navy, DSW, Ulta Beauty, Office Depot, and Georgia Theater Company Stadium Cinemas. Kohl's shadow-anchors the property from an adjacent parcel.
The Roswell Road and Johnson Ferry Road intersection carries more than 82,100 vehicles per day, according to Sterling's announcement. The firm's data shows the center draws more than 3.1 million visitors annually, ranking second among 61 shopping centers within a five-mile radius by total visits.
The buyer
Sterling Organization manages more than 13 million square feet of primarily retail real estate across 75 U.S. properties, valued at over $3 billion as of September 2024. The Merchants Walk purchase was made through Sterling Value Add Partners IV, a $600 million institutional fund that closed in May 2024 and targets value-add grocery-anchored and neighborhood retail centers.
The acquisition is the fund's 10th investment and Sterling's second in metro Atlanta. The firm previously acquired Presidential Commons, a 264,271-square-foot Kroger-anchored center in Snellville, in September 2024 as part of a $180.5 million three-property portfolio deal.
The neighborhood
Sterling cited demographics showing roughly 35,000 residents within a three-mile radius of Merchants Walk, with an average household income of approximately $230,000.
Because this is a private real estate transaction, no county zoning approval or public comment period is required. Sterling has not disclosed a timeline for any renovations or leasing changes at the property.
