Capital Markets · May 2026
Open-Air Centers Keep Trading: What DLC’s Nebraska Acquisition Tells Us About 2026 Capital Flows
This week’s news that DLC continued its billion-dollar acquisition spree with the purchase of Shadow Lake Towne Center in the Omaha metro is more than a one-off headline. It’s a data point in a much larger story playing out across the open-air retail sector: capital is back, it has conviction, and it is concentrating that conviction on grocery- and big-box-anchored centers in supply-constrained metros.
Why Open-Air Is the Asset of the Cycle
Open-air centers were once the “safe but boring” corner of retail. In 2026 they are the most actively pursued asset class in commercial real estate. Three forces are converging:
- Supply is structurally capped. New ground-up open-air construction has been near zero for nearly five years, and there is no near-term scenario in which it ramps back up meaningfully.
- Tenant demand is the broadest in a decade. Grocers, off-price retailers, fitness operators, QSR brands, and medtail tenants are all expanding into the same shrinking pool of available boxes.
- Capital has clarity again. With rate visibility improving and the 2024 reset behind us, institutional and REIT buyers are underwriting with conviction rather than waiting.
The Long Island Parallel
What is happening in the Omaha metro mirrors what we are seeing on Long Island, only more acutely. Supply on the Island has been functionally frozen for five years, the tenant roster expanding fastest is the one we want most (grocery, off-price, medtail, QSR), and best-in-class grocery-anchored deals are clearing inside of 6% cap rates with multiple bidders. The bid for Long Island product is benefiting from the same macro tailwinds that are pushing institutional capital into Nebraska.
What This Means for Owners
- If you have been thinking about a sale, the window is wide open. Bidder depth on quality grocery-anchored product is the deepest it has been since 2016.
- If you are holding, get aggressive on the rent roll. Mark-to-market opportunities on stale leases are the highest-margin NOI you will create this year.
- If you are buying, run a disciplined process. Off-market and quiet-marketed deals are clearing 3–7% above broadly listed comparables right now.
Curious where your center prices in today’s market?
Schuckman Realty has an active buyer pipeline across the NY metro and beyond. Let’s compare notes.
Chain Store Age, “DLC’s billion-dollar expansion spree touches down in Nebraska”