Las Vegas strip mall Cheyenne Commons bought by Florida firm

A Florida real estate firm has expanded to Las Vegas with the purchase of a foreclosed strip mall.

Pebb Enterprises announced Wednesday that it acquired Cheyenne Commons, a roughly 35-acre retail plaza at the southwest corner of Rainbow Boulevard and Cheyenne Avenue.

It did not disclose the purchase price, but property records show the center traded for $34.35 million.

Pebb’s acquisition – more than three years after nearly half the firm was killed in a plane crash – is a new chapter for a shopping center that was just 60 percent occupied in spring 2017 and went into foreclosure that summer.

Pebb said in the news release that Cheyenne Commons spans 361,486 square feet and is 79 percent occupied, featuring such tenants as Walmart, Floor & Decor, Ross Dress for Less and others.

This is its first acquisition in Las Vegas, the company said.

Ian Weiner, Pebb’s president and CEO, said in the release that Cheyenne Commons “has a tremendous amount of untapped potential,” citing, in part, its proximity to densely populated areas and U.S. Highway 95.

Cheyenne Commons is one of countless retail properties around the U.S. that has struggled amid a glut of retail hubs and as consumers spend more time and money online.

Logic Commercial Real Estate chief executive Brendan Keating, whose firm is Cheyenne Commons’ property manager and leasing agent, said Wednesday that the plaza underwent $2.7 million in renovations, including new roofing and paint, updated lighting, and parking-lot repairs.

Logic, which also brokered the sale to Pebb, has managed Cheyenne Commons since 2017. Keating said his group tried to make it “Amazon-resilient” by signing tenants that aren’t threatened by the online retail giant, such as flooring supplier Floor & Decor.

As he put it, Cheyenne Commons is a “turnaround story” that shows a retail center “can still thrive, even with Amazon.”

Pebb, based in Boca Raton, Florida, was founded in 1973 and said it owns and manages about 2.5 million square feet of commercial real estate across the country.

It dealt with tragedy in November 2015 when two of its principals and five employees were killed in a plane crash in Akron, Ohio, during a business trip.

The group, flying on a chartered Hawker 700A jet, comprised nearly half the firm, according to an article on Pebb’s website.

The plane crashed into a four-unit apartment building. The National Transportation Safety Board ruled the accident was caused by the flight crew’s “mismanagement” of the landing approach, and that the charter company’s “casual attitude toward compliance with standards was a contributing factor” in the crash.

The plane’s two pilots also died in the crash. No one on the ground was killed, the NTSB said.

Contact Eli Segall at esegall@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0342. Follow @eli_segall on Twitter.