A national retail REIT has purchased Fuqua Development's Madison Yards for $80.2M.

Daytona Beach, Florida-based CTO Realty Growth acquired the 163K SF Publix Super Markets-anchored shopping center along the BeltLine Eastside Trail at 905 Memorial Drive in Reynoldstown as part of a reverse 1031 exchange.

CTO used $17.5M of 1031 exchange funds and paid the rest of the purchase price with available unrestricted cash and funds from its credit facility, according to a press release. As a reverse 1031-exchange, CTO now has the option to insert future 1031 exchange investors into the capital stack when they sell other assets.

Fuqua, headed by prolific Atlanta retail developer Jeff Fuqua, delivered Madison Yards in 2019 as part of the surge in economic development activity and new projects around the Atlanta BeltLine. Developers have unleashed more than 2,000 new apartments nearby over the past five years, and more than 370,000 people live within 5 miles of the property with an average household income over $125K, according to the release.

Madison Yards is situated near Grant Park, Cabbagetown and East Atlanta Village and 2 miles from Downtown Atlanta. Aside from Publix, other tenants include an AMC Theatres, AT&T, First Watch and Orangetheory Fitness.

“Atlanta has benefitted from sustained population growth and tremendous corporate investment in recent years, and Madison Yards is a terrific opportunity for us to invest in a high-quality, newly built grocery-anchored shopping center in an infill location along Atlanta’s Beltline at an attractive risk-adjusted yield,” CTO CEO John Albright said in a press release.

This is CTO's third Metro Atlanta acquisition in recent years. The REIT purchased Perimeter Place in 2020 and renamed it Ashford Lane. It is replacing some of the asphalt parking lot with green space that will be surrounded by a number of restaurants, including Sweetgreen, Superica and Brown Bag Seafood Co., according to an investor presentation.

In December, CTO bought the Exchange @ Gwinnett, a Fuqua-developed project leased to Sprouts Farmers Market, Rooms-To-Go, a food hall, Topgolf and Andretti Indoor Karting and Games, for $34M.