06/08/2026
North Carolina has had a *“Lotte”* activity lately.
Over the last several months, three very different categories made major commitments across Westwood Financial’s North Carolina portfolio:
▪️ Lotte Market Plaza signed on as the new 51,249 SF anchor at McCrimmon Corners in Morrisville
▪️ UNC Health committed to 9,600 SF at Towne North in Raleigh
▪️ PNC Bank signed 9,504 SF at Steelecroft Shopping Center in Charlotte
But these aren’t isolated deals. They’re signals.
“The strongest neighborhood retail centers today aren’t just places people shop — they’re becoming embedded into how communities live,” said Lauren Ball, COO at Westwood Financial. “When grocery, healthcare, financial services, restaurants, and daily-needs retail all begin choosing the same centers at the same time, it’s a reflection of both consumer behavior and long-term market durability.”
One of the most exciting additions to the portfolio is Lotte Market Plaza at McCrimmon Corners — and notably, this marks Westwood Financial’s first completed deal with the growing international grocer.
Over the last several years, Lotte has continued expanding its footprint across the United States as consumer demand for globally driven grocery concepts and culturally diverse food experiences continues to accelerate. Their ability to blend traditional grocery, prepared foods, specialty offerings, and community-driven retail has made them a major traffic driver in the markets they enter.
For McCrimmon Corners, the fit felt incredibly natural.
Located in Morrisville just outside Raleigh, the 87K SF center serves one of the most diverse and rapidly growing trade areas in North Carolina with more than 445K residents according to the MTA and approximately 1.2 million annual visits. Visitors frequent the property an average of 14 times per month — a powerful indicator of habitual, daily-needs consumer behavior.
That same trend is playing out across the rest of the portfolio.
At Towne North, UNC Health identified a clear healthcare gap within an affluent Raleigh trade area already anchored by strong daily-needs tenancy and established consumer traffic patterns.
At Steelecroft Shopping Center, PNC Bank’s commitment reflects another major industry shift: banks are expanding again, but with a far more localized and community-driven retail strategy focused on high-frequency neighborhood centers.
Located near the South Carolina border and Lake Wylie, Steelecroft serves a trade area population exceeding 500K residents and sees visitors an average of 19 times per month per visitor. That’s an extraordinary engagement metric — and a major reason why the center ranks within the top 25% of shopping centers in North Carolina.
The common denominator across all three deals?
The next generation of retail winners won’t just be “well located.”
They’ll be deeply integrated into how consumers already live.
That means:
▪️ necessity-driven merchandising
▪️ repeat visitation
▪️ affluent suburban density
▪️ mixed-use adjacency
▪️ service-oriented tenancy
▪️ and experiential convenience over destination retail
Retailers are adapting to that reality.
Healthcare providers are adapting to that reality.
Banks are adapting to that reality.
Neighborhood retail isn’t just surviving. In markets like North Carolina, it’s evolving into one of the most durable real estate sectors in the country.
Huge congratulations to Tara Borysiak for continuing to drive momentum across the portfolio and for helping welcome these incredible tenants to the Westwood platform.
(And yes — we still have a rare pad development opportunity available at McCrimmon Corners. Reach out to Katherine Allen for more information.)
