A firm that recently sold a five-building industrial complex in Bridgewater has acquired a retail center in the Southeast as part of a Section 1031 like-kind exchange.

Brokers with Bussel Realty Corp. say the buyer, Central Avenue Corp., paid $18.2 million for the 99,000-square-foot property in New Bern, North Carolina, at 3565 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. BRC Vice President Anthony Rittwager and Director of Asset Services Matthew Phillips represented the investor, noting that the complex is leased to the Kroger Co. subsidiary Harris Teeter.

JLL’s Jeffrey Cicurel represented the seller, NC New Bern LLC. The deal follows Central Avenue Corp.’s disposition of 550-558 Central Ave., a 211,000-square-foot complex in Bridgewater, in a $37 million deal also brokered by Rittwager and Phillips.

“We located a property aligned with the company’s future strategic real estate, wealth preservation and tax objectives,” Phillips said. “On behalf of our client, we successfully negotiated an unprecedented cap rate at that time for an asset that historically trades below 450 basis points. Our refined process ensured this transaction closed within only 56 days of the IRS’ IRC Section 1031 allotted 180 days.”