A local investment firm paid $4.7 million for a fully leased strip of shops on South Coast Highway 101, and a second Encinitas shopping center changed hands for nearly $26 million in July.
The two deals total close to $31 million and landed in a San Diego County retail market where vacancy sat at just 4.6% at the end of the second quarter, the San Diego Business Journal reported, citing JLL data.
RAF Pacifica Group, founded in Encinitas in 2016, bought the 4,939-square-foot property at 548-568 South Coast Highway 101 without it ever hitting the open market. The building houses five tenants: Coco Rose Beach and Resort Wear, Kim's Alterations, 101 Diner, Q'ero and Ocean Time. It had been in the same family's hands for more than 60 years, The Coast News reported.
RPG founder and president Adam Robinson said a tenant tipped him off before the owner listed the property.
"I actually got a call from one of the tenants who said, 'Hey, this guy is going to sell this building. I'd love for you to be my landlord,'" Robinson told the San Diego Business Journal.
Robinson accepted the owner's asking price. He has lived in Encinitas for almost 25 years and keeps an office across the street from the property.
The firm plans to hold the building long-term. RPG has hired an architect to explore facade improvements such as larger storefront windows but does not plan to add square footage, according to The Coast News. RPG also intends to keep all five current tenants, including one whose lease expires at the end of 2026.
Village Square sale
Separately, Encinitas Village Square at 1450-1476 Encinitas Blvd. sold for nearly $26 million in July. Festival Management sold the center to US Property Trust. Pete Bethea, Newmark Pacific vice chairman, brokered the deal alongside senior managing directors Glenn Rudy and Rob Ippolito.
Built in 1975 and renovated in 2016, the center was 99% leased at the time of sale. Tenants include California Pizza Kitchen, The Habit Burger Grill, Luna Grill and Peet's Coffee.
Low vacancy, limited new supply
The county's 4.6% retail vacancy rate sits slightly above the 4.4% national figure, according to JLL's second-quarter report. But San Diego has just 3.7 square feet of retail space under construction per 100 residents, among the lowest of any major U.S. market. That scarcity keeps demand for existing properties high.
Craig Killman, JLL managing director and retail advisory lead, wrote in the firm's second-quarter San Diego report that the region's lower retail space per capita will continue to drive sales productivity gains of 3% to 4%.
Nationally, retail investment volume reached $33 billion in the first half of 2026, up 14% year over year and the strongest first half since 2022, according to JLL.
Robinson said RPG is already working to renew the expiring lease at 548-568 South Coast Highway 101. No timeline has been announced for the facade work.
