Modesto’s Century Center sold again. Here’s what new owners envision for its future
East Modesto’s Century Center has new owners with deep valley roots who hope to keep the shopping center viable for generations to come.
The once-bustling complex on Oakdale Road was sold to Vintage Properties for $21.5 million earlier this month. The change in ownership comes a little more than a year after Modesto-based investing group Graceada Partners and New York commercial real estate firm Somera Road bought the vacancy plagued complex for $12.25 million in November 2018.
Vintage Properties owner Marvin Dole said they were interested in Century Center because of its long history in east Modesto.
“It’s an iconic property. People from this area really love this shopping center and want to see it succeed,” he said.
Third-generation family owned Vintage Properties built its profile in residential real estate over the years, primarily owning and renting homes, duplexes and apartment complexes in the region. But the company has recently begun to shift more to larger commercial properties, purchasing the Vineyard Square shopping center in Escalon last spring and Century Center this year.
Vintage Properties partner Brian Dole, whose grandparents started the Modesto company in the 1960s, said the move into commercial real estate was in part to diversify their holdings and also consolidate their widespread rental properties.
When Somera and Graceada Partners bought Century Center in 2018, Vintage Properties had a 20 percent stake in the purchase. During their tenure they brought in a number of new tenants including Satellite Dialysis and Golden Valley Health Centers, which are taking over much of the former Gottschalks space.
Graceada Partners principal Joe Muratore said they had not intended to sell the complex, but Vintage Properties made them an offer they simply couldn’t refuse. Much of their improvement plans for the center, including its facade redesign and new monument signs, are being inherited by Vintage Properties.
Somera and Graceada took the center from 34% to 55% occupancy, bringing in restaurants like the newly opened Taqueria El Maguey and signing renewed long-term leases with most of the center’s existing tenants. They also invested some $1.8 million in upgrades to the center’s outdoor lighting, resurfacing of its parking lots and other tenant improvements.
Brian Dole said they want to continue that success, particularly the move to turn the complex into a lifestyle center with a mix of retail shops, personal services, healthcare providers and restaurants.
“We want people to come here for everything,” he said. “We’re excited about its potential as a lifestyle center.”
Vintage Properties plans to invest from $1.5 to $4 million in the center, including a full facade renovation. The family sold 21 of its residential properties to be able to finance the purchase.
The new design plans, which should be submitted to the city soon, will modernize the look of the center which debuted in 1979. If all goes smoothly work should begin in about six months. But two large new signs for the center should go up in the next month or so.
Still, the new ownership has some daunting spaces left to fill — most prominently the 50,000-square-foot former Raley’s space. The supermarket had been an anchor in the complex since it opened, but left in 2012. The company continued to pay its lease on the vacant space through 2018, preventing another grocer from moving in.
The Trader Joe’s question
Last year the previous ownership led a concerted campaign to bring a Trader Joe’s into the old Raley’s space, even erecting signs in front of the center encouraging members of the public to contact the specialty grocer. Modesto has one existing Trader’s Joe’s near Vintage Faire Mall in the city’s northwest shopping corridor.
Brian Dole said he would still love a Trader Joe’s to go into the center, but has “no idea” if that will happen. They still hope to fill the space with some kind of grocer. And Planet Fitness has already expressed interest in moving into part of the larger Raley’s space.
The center also still has some 25,000-square-feet of the former Gottschalk space left to fill. The department store was the center’s other main anchor for 25 years, before the company went out of business in 2009. The next largest vacancy is the 6,000-square-foot former Blockbuster Video space fronting Oakdale Road.
The Doles would like to attract a diverse mix of businesses from salons and nail spas to dental offices and more restaurants. Two existing restaurants are undergoing major remodels in the center as well. Torii Japanese Restaurant, which closed for renovations last year when it was bought by new owners, should be reopening later this month. And a full overhaul of the standalone Roundtable Pizza should begin sometime in March.
Marvin Dole said to have those restaurants, plus the two new healthcare providers, invest millions in tenant improvements means they’re not the only ones betting big on the center’s future.
“We’re local people and committed to this area,” he said. “We’re building a legacy and this will be part of that legacy and we want to pass it on to the next generation.”
This story was originally published February 15, 2020 at 3:09 PM.
