ShopOne Centers REIT, which specializes in U.S. grocery-anchored retail, has formed a joint venture with investment manager Pantheon Ventures and an unnamed institutional investor to acquire more grocery-anchored shopping centers.

The total investment capacity of the JV will be more than $1B, according to the partners. ShopOne, which has contributed an existing retail portfolio to the JV, will manage and lease the additional acquisitions.

The partnership says it will seek properties in the largest 100 U.S. markets, but also grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers in some college towns or tourist destinations.

“Like us, [the partners] are bullish on the near- and long-term fundamentals of grocery-anchored shopping centers," ShopOne CEO John Roche said in a statement.

Investors have long prized grocery-anchored shopping centers, a feeling kicked into even higher gear during the pandemic, as the sale of food for consumption at home rose. Physical grocery store sales have mostly done well since 2020 despite the rise in e-commerce food orders.

Indeed, grocers served as essential businesses and critical players in ensuring food supply during the pandemic's uncertainty, McKinsey & Co. reported in its 2021 assessment of the state of the North American grocery store.

“The disruption in development caused by the pandemic slowed the expansion of many soft goods retailers, but grocery stores have seen strong sales throughout and are continuing with their expansion plans,” Trent Rustan, vice president of retail sales and leasing for Commercial Properties Inc./CORFAC International in Tempe, Arizona, told Bisnow.