The Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments) and Nuveen Real Estate have launched a joint venture with $790 million in initial investments to acquire open-air shopping centers across the United States, targeting grocery-anchored properties and retail destinations focused on everyday consumer needs.
The partnership has already completed acquisitions totaling approximately 3 million square feet across 19 properties in Virginia, Arizona, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, California, Colorado and Washington. The investments reflect a strategy centered on shopping centers with established grocery tenants, essential services and retailers that generate consistent customer traffic.
The joint venture is targeting metropolitan markets with population growth, rising household incomes and significant barriers to new retail development. It is also focusing on locations where established retailers are expanding, creating opportunities for leasing demand and long-term property income.
Among the properties acquired is The Shoppes of Lorton Valley, a 110,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Lorton, Virginia, a Washington, D.C., suburb. The property is anchored by Giant, a major grocery operator in the Washington metropolitan area.
The venture also acquired Las Tiendas Village, a 188,000-square-foot community shopping center in Chandler, Arizona, within the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler metropolitan area. The property is anchored by Sprouts, a specialty grocery retailer, and includes additional tenants with established credit profiles.
Beyond the individual property acquisitions, PSP Investments and Nuveen have completed two portfolio transactions that expand the venture’s geographic reach.
One portfolio includes six open-air shopping centers totaling approximately 801,000 square feet across the Fort Lauderdale, San Diego, Orange County, Dallas-Fort Worth, Minneapolis and Los Angeles markets. A second portfolio comprises 11 properties totaling approximately 1.9 million square feet in California, Colorado and Washington.
The properties are located along major commercial corridors or at high-traffic intersections, providing visibility and access for consumers shopping for groceries, household goods and other daily necessities.
The investment strategy reflects a more selective approach to retail real estate, emphasizing properties supported by recurring consumer spending rather than discretionary shopping. Grocery-anchored centers have attracted institutional interest because essential retail categories can maintain customer traffic through changing economic conditions.
“We have been reshaping our U.S. retail exposure around a much tighter definition of the sector: open-air centers anchored by grocers and daily-needs tenants, which aims to deliver a steady, inflation-linked income for our portfolio,” said Julien Roy-Décary, Managing Director, Real Estate Investments, Americas at PSP Investments.
Roy-Décary said Nuveen’s property sourcing capabilities and operating experience complement PSP Investments’ strategy of building a portfolio concentrated in necessity-based retail assets.
For Nuveen, the partnership combines its real estate investment and management platform with long-term institutional capital from one of Canada’s largest pension investors.
“Necessity-based retail has demonstrated remarkable resilience through various cycles, underpinned by consistent consumer demand for essential goods and services,” said Brian Wallick, Portfolio Manager, Retail at Nuveen Real Estate.
Wallick said the venture is structured to pursue recurring income and long-term property value through its investment scale, market relationships and local operating capabilities.
The partnership also provides PSP Investments with additional exposure to U.S. retail properties as it manages a diversified global investment portfolio spanning public markets, private equity, real estate, infrastructure, natural resources and credit.
Established in 1999, PSP Investments manages pension assets for Canada’s federal Public Service, Canadian Forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Reserve Force. The organization reported $320.6 billion in net assets under management as of March 31, 2026. It is headquartered in Ottawa, with its principal business office in Montréal and additional offices in New York, London and Hong Kong.
Nuveen Real Estate manages approximately $135 billion in assets across public and private real estate investments, including debt and equity strategies. The firm has more than 90 years of real estate investment experience and a team of over 590 employees across more than 30 cities in the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.
With its initial 19-property portfolio established, the joint venture gives both investors a sizable position in U.S. open-air retail real estate. Its emphasis on grocery anchors, essential services and growing metropolitan markets is intended to support stable occupancy, recurring rental income and long-term asset performance.
