Most of a major commercial area in Leland is under new ownership.

The Yelverton family bought The Villages at Brunswick Forest, excluding some outparcels, for $16.8 million in December from entities managed by Lord Baltimore Capital Partners LLC.

The Villages at Brunswick Forest is situated in front of the Brunswick Forest master-planned community in Leland.

The Yelvertons, who have homes in New Hanover County and Raleigh, have been in the real estate business for more than 50 years, said George Yelverton, but this is the first time they’ve owned a shopping center as an investment.

They bought the property as part of a 1031 exchange after selling Cameron Hills Apartments in Raleigh’s Cameron Village. 

The family owned the apartments for 25 years before selling it in 2020.

According to section 1031 of the federal tax code, a 1031 exchange allows a property owner to postpone paying tax on a gain if he or she reinvests sale proceeds in similar property as part of a qualifying like-kind exchange.

The Villages at Brunswick Forest appealed to the Yelvertons as an investment for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the thousands of residents in Brunswick Forest can get to the shopping area without leaving their community, giving it “huge growth potential,” George Yelverton said.

The center is anchored by a Lowes Foods grocery store and includes restaurants, stores, salons and more.

“It’s really a beautifully laid-out property, and so we like the fact that it was attractive and that it had built-in clientele. They’ve got to pass it to get anywhere in the world from their house,” George Yelverton said, referring to Brunswick Forest residents.

Richard Cotton, a broker and managing director of Multifamily Realty Advisors, represented the Yelvertons in the transaction. Cotton also represented the family as the exclusive listing broker in the Cameron Hills Apartment sale.

Wilmington-based commercial real estate firm Cape Fear Commercial is the new property manager for The Villages on behalf of the Yelvertons, with CFC broker Spruill Thompson as the leasing agent and CFC’s Orry Dickard in charge of property management.

“We’re 100% full right now,” Thompson said Thursday. “The project was very well built and the tenants seem to be doing extremely well there. We’re excited to work with them.”