Capital Boulevard’s retail heavyweight has a new owner, and the price tag is anything but subtle. Finmarc Management has sold Capital Marketplace, the sprawling shopping center along U.S. Route 1 in Raleigh, to an institutional buyer in a deal that helps fuel the company’s next acquisition binge and shifts one of the city’s prominent retail hubs into national hands.
Deal details
CoStar reported Tuesday that Bethesda-based Finmarc sold Capital Marketplace, a 383,000-square-foot, 12-building power center along Capital Boulevard, to Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group for roughly $80.6 million. As reported by REBusiness, CBRE represented the seller in the transaction.
Property snapshot
The center, which opened in 2006, spans roughly 53 acres and serves up a classic big-box tenant lineup. BJ’s Wholesale Club, Burlington and LA Fitness anchor the property, and Bob’s Discount Furniture joined the roster more recently. According to Commercial Property Executive, Finmarc lifted occupancy to about 97.5 percent during its five-year hold. The firm acquired the asset in late 2021 for about $58 million, making the resale roughly a 39 percent premium over the earlier purchase price.
Why Finmarc sold
For Finmarc, this is less about cashing out and more about reloading. The company is recycling capital from the Raleigh sale into an aggressive buying push, with an eye on as much as $400 million in acquisitions through 2026, according to ConnectCRE. The plan targets a mix of core and value-add opportunities across retail, office and industrial properties as the firm redeploys the proceeds.
Where this fits in Raleigh's market
The timing is no accident. Colliers' Q1 2026 report shows Raleigh-Durham retail vacancy holding near 2.5 percent, a tight market that keeps investor focus on well-leased suburban power centers like Capital Marketplace. With so few large, anchor-heavy centers available, institutional players such as Principal are willing to pay up for stabilized assets that check all the boxes on occupancy and location.
Who handled the deal
On the brokerage side, CBRE’s Adam Russ, Erin Varol, Ryan Sciullo and Casey Smith handled the sale for Finmarc, with legal counsel provided by Kelley Drye & Warren LLP, according to Commercial Property Executive. The pairing of a national brokerage team and an institutional buyer underlines just how sought after stabilized retail has become across the Triangle.
What it means for shoppers
For anyone running weekend errands along Capital Boulevard, the change in ownership should feel pretty uneventful. The anchors remain in place, the parking lots stay full and day-to-day operations are not expected to shift overnight. CBRE’s leasing efforts at Capital Marketplace, including securing Bob’s Discount Furniture for its first Raleigh store, demonstrate the kind of momentum that helped draw in an institutional buyer, according to CBRE.
