The transaction underscores the short supply and high demand of Class A grocery-anchored shopping centers, especially in this sub-market. Bridgeside Shopping Center, which is anchored by Nob Hills Foods and Pet Food Express, was purchased in an all-cash transaction on behalf of one of AEW’s separate account investors.Colliers International worked on the transaction. Senior Vice President Kevin Van Voorhis along with Henry Englehardt of Colliers Walnut Creek and El Warner of the firm’s Los Angeles office represented the seller in the transaction.

“This sale demonstrates that well-maintained, well-located Class A grocery-anchored shopping centers continue to be at the top of investors’ wish lists when it comes to buying retail properties,” said Van Voorhis in a statement. “It is a solid, long-term investment. It’s really too bad we don’t have more grocery-anchored assets to sell, but there is just a real lack of supply at the present time.”

Located on Alameda Island at the intersection of Blanding Avenue and Tilden Way, the center’s unique location at 2671 Blanding Ave. is central to a variety of affluent residential neighborhoods that surround Alameda.

According to a recent, third quarter of 2015 Cushman & Wakefield retail report for the East Bay, Alameda and Contra Costa counties continued to expand their employment base adding 162,000 jobs, a 14.5 percent increase since the trough at the end of the first quarter of 2011. With unemployment at 5.5 percent, it is nearing the lowest levels of the previous cycle. All this had contributed to sharper demand for retail space, which is at 5.2 percent, according to the report.

The market absorbed 228,000 square feet of space during the quarter bringing the year-to-date total to 349,000 square feet. Overall asking rents are currently at $22.08 per square foot on an annual triple-net basis, up from $21.12 at the beginning of 2015. The report anticipates that this will continue to increase, particularly for new Class A space.