Riverbirch Corner, the shopping center that has anchored west Sanford since the late 1980s but largely fallen into decline in recent years, has been sold, according to a deed on file at the Lee County Courthouse.

The deed shows that CASTO-CCM Sanford took possession of the shopping center from Riverbirch Realty LLC on Nov. 17.

CASTO, an Ohio-based real estate holding company which also has offices in North Carolina and Florida, appears to own dozens of shopping center properties in Ohio, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, and South Carolina – many of them anchored by large retailers like Kroger, Target, Kohl’s, Stein Mart, and others.

CASTO’s North Carolina properties include Stone Creek Village in Cary, Shoppes at Wakefield Park in Raleigh, Park West Village in Morrisville, Adams Farm Shopping Center and the Shoppes at Battleground North in Greensboro, and others in Winston-Salem, Durham, Charlotte, Jacksonville, and Burlington.

“We are so excited to be part of Lee County and the positive growth of this wonderful community,” Shannon Dixon, executive vice president of CASTO Southeast Realty Services, said in a press release. “Located in the geographic center of the state, it is truly the heart of North Carolina, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to help embody the county’s motto ‘committed today for a better tomorrow.'”

Riverbirch Realty, a subsidiary of New York-based Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management, had owned the property since 2017, and faced local civil penalties for lack of upkeep on the property as recently as 2019, as well as a number of businesses either closing or leaving for other locations. Many of the center’s 25-plus retail suites remain vacant. A 2018 article in Reuters reported that Namdar and Mason invest “as little as possible on many of their properties; the aim is to hold the assets, not redevelop them.”

CASTO hasn’t announced or submitted any plans with the city regarding the future of the shopping center.  Steve Malloy and Tim Dubois of Adcock Real Estate assisted in the transaction.

CASTO, a fully integrated real estate organization since 1926, is a recognized leader in the ownership, management, acquisition and development of multifamily residences, commercial shopping centers and office buildings. CASTO’s portfolio currently includes over 6,200 multifamily units and over 26 million square feet of commercial property located throughout the midwestern and southeastern United States.