Whether it’s to pad retirement income or grow a company’s portfolio of property investments, local and outside investors continue to take an interest in income-generating commercial properties across the region. 

As leasing activity increases across the area, investors – ranging from local retirees and privately traded real estate investment trusts – are snatching up a number of commercial and industrial flex properties across the region. 

Hansen Matthews, co-owner and principal broker of Wilmington-based Maus Warwick Matthews & Company, said the commercial properties selling are a mix of bank-owned and conventional retail properties.

He said many investors were looking for a number of comps before signing the dotted line to purchase commercial income properties, including a thorough look at each center’s tenancy. 

“They’re looking for established leases, cash flow and the condition of the property,” Matthews said. “They want to feel comfortable that in the future, it will yield good revenue and sustain occupancy.”  

Over the past month, Matthews’ firm has closed on a number of commercial income properties – most of which were purchased by local investors. 

In May, a private investor purchased 28,000 square feet of industrial flex space at 3232 Kitty Hawk Road in the North Kerr Industrial Park that was formerly owned by Charleston-based first Federal Bank. 

Matthews said the site is 87 percent occupied and has one unit with a “serious letter of intent” from an unnamed tenant. That transaction could close in the coming weeks, potentially bringing the newly acquired building to full occupancy.

Its sister property, a 15,000-square-foot building at 3205 Kitty Hawk Road, is currently under contract and set to close by the end of the month, Matthews said. 

An investor also purchased the Market Bend Shopping Center last month.

Daniel J. Wilson, a veterinarian and owner of Wilmington-based Country Veterinary Clinic, bought the 11,224-square-foot shopping center at 6841 Market St.

Steve Warwick, co-founder and principal broker with Maus Warwick Matthews & Company who completed the transaction, said Wilson plans to move his clinic into 5,200 square feet of space and collect rent from existing tenants that include Atlantic Coast Chiropractic, Nationwide Insurance and Time Investment Corp., a personal loan servicer.

Wilmington-based Cape Fear Commercial has also placed the former Galleria Shopping Center on Wrightsville Avenue under contract with State Street Companies for a mixed-use development that includes apartments.  

Matthews said many of the investors are beginning to take advantage of low pricing and interest rates. 

“A lot of people are realizing that property pricing and interest rates have dropped to as low as it’s going to go,” Matthews said. “That has brought out a lot of buyers looking for these types of properties.”

Brian Eckel, co-founder and broker with Cape Fear Commercial, said his firm continues to see a steady stream of prospective buyers. He said many of the investors are targeting existing retail and office space.

“In general, you typically have stronger tenants which makes underwriting easier,” Eckel said of income office and retail properties.  

But while investors continue to snap up commercial properties, Eckel said they must remain cautious about overextending their reach by examining existing leases and the quality of the tenant line up. 

“It really depends on the investment,” he said. “There are some deals that are not an investment for everyone … the market proved that during the real estate crash in 2008.”