A Charging Operator Just Leased Parking at 90 Shopping Centers. Read the Deal Terms Beyond the Press Release.
By Keith Reynolds | Publisher & Editor, ChargedUp!
EVgo and Brixmor Property Group are adding more than 500 DC fast charging stalls across at least 90 shopping centers, covering more than a quarter of Brixmor's portfolio. The transaction matters less as a charging milestone than as a template. A public retail REIT has now priced parking field as energy infrastructure at portfolio scale, and the terms of that arrangement, not the stall count, determine whether it improves net operating income or quietly transfers risk to the landlord.
The Deal Establishes a Benchmark
The August 3 announcement covers Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas, with deployment beginning later this year at Barn Plaza in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Each site carries up to 12 chargers rated at 350 kilowatts, with each unit able to split power between two connectors, reaching at least 90 centers or more than 25 percent of the portfolio. The relationship dates to 2016, when EVgo installed its first charger at a Brixmor center in Pleasanton, California.
Grocery anchoring is the operating logic. A fast charging session and a grocery run occupy roughly the same interval, which resolves the utilization problem that has undermined charging at property types where visits are either too short or too long. Both companies cite dwell time and footfall as the retailer-side return.
The amenity has already crossed from differentiator to expectation in mature markets. CoStar data shows more than 300 retail shopping centers in California alone now list electric vehicle charging as a property amenity, with national brands increasingly treating it as a baseline requirement. A center without charging in those submarkets is no longer neutral. It is behind.
Four Terms Determine Whether This Improves NOI
Charging arrangements are usually presented to owners as revenue opportunities. Most of the economics actually sit in four provisions that receive far less attention than the revenue share.
Who Funds the Service Upgrade
Twelve chargers at 350 kilowatts represents a substantial electrical load, frequently exceeding what an existing retail service can carry. Someone pays for the transformer, the switchgear, the trenching and any utility-side upgrade. When the operator funds it, the cost is recovered through the revenue split or the term length. When the landlord funds it, the improvement is a capital expenditure whose return depends entirely on utilization the landlord does not control.
The determining question is what happens to that upgraded service at expiration. Service capacity installed for charging can be reused for other purposes, which makes it a durable property improvement rather than tenant-specific equipment. An owner funding the upgrade should be underwriting the residual capacity, not only the charging revenue.
Who Carries Utilization Risk
Revenue share arrangements pay the landlord a percentage of charging revenue, which means the landlord absorbs adoption risk without controlling adoption. A fixed license fee transfers that risk to the operator. Hybrid structures with a floor and a participation above it are common and generally preferable, since the floor covers the site's carrying cost while the participation preserves upside if the corridor develops faster than underwritten.
License or Ground Lease
The instrument affects far more than rent. A ground lease creates a leasehold interest that can complicate financing, encumber a future sale, and constrain redevelopment of the parcel. A license or easement is more easily terminated and relocated, which matters at a center where a future anchor reconfiguration might require moving the charging plaza. Owners should specify relocation rights and cost responsibility explicitly, because the equipment is fixed and the site plan may not be.
Term Against Equipment Life
A term substantially longer than the useful life of the hardware commits the parking field to equipment that will be obsolete before expiration. Charging standards, power levels and connector types have all shifted materially within the last decade. Provisions requiring the operator to refresh equipment on a defined schedule, and to remove and restore at termination, protect against a plaza of stranded chargers occupying premium parking.
The Vendor Set Is Consolidating
The counterparties are getting larger, which changes negotiating dynamics. PowerFlex, an EDF affiliate managing more than 70,000 charging points, acquired The Mobility House North America on August 6, absorbing a platform that manages more than 100 megawatts of charging for over 150 fleet operators, with vehicle-to-grid and vehicle-to-building capability cited as a driver. PowerFlex has also installed more than 500 megawatts of commercial solar and 50 megawatt-hours of storage. On the travel center side, the Pilot, General Motors and EVgo network passed 300 locations with 1,300 stalls across 40 states, having added 50 sites in 25 states in the first half of 2026. That pace sets the amenity benchmark other highway-adjacent property types get measured against.
Consolidation cuts both ways for an owner. Larger platforms bring better uptime, capital and integrated energy management, which is what makes charging pair sensibly with solar and storage on the same service. Fewer counterparties also means less pricing tension. An owner soliciting proposals in 2027 will have a shorter list than one soliciting in 2024.
What to Do
1. Establish the electrical baseline before soliciting proposals. Know your existing service capacity, current peak demand and available headroom. That number determines whether a proposal requires a utility upgrade, and it is the single largest swing factor in the economics.
2. Ask for a fixed floor plus participation rather than pure revenue share. If the operator will not carry a floor, that is information about how they underwrite the site's utilization.
3. Negotiate relocation rights and cost responsibility up front. Assume the site plan will change once during the term.
4. Require an equipment refresh schedule and removal and restoration obligations at termination, with security for the restoration cost.
5. Underwrite the residual service capacity separately from charging revenue. An upgraded electrical service is a durable property improvement that supports future storage, solar or tenant loads.
The Bottom Line
Charging has moved from pilot to portfolio transaction, and the negotiating posture has to move with it. The owners who capture value will treat a charging proposal the way they treat an anchor lease, with attention to term, reversion, relocation and residual value, rather than as an amenity decision resolved on revenue share alone.
Sources
https://chainstoreage.com/brixmor-evgo-expand-ev-charging-station-partnership-least-90-centers
https://chargedevs.com/newswire/pilot-gm-and-evgo-now-offer-ev-charging-at-over-300-us-locations/
https://capitalrivers.com/ev-chargers-retail-shopping-centers-california/
Frequently Asked Questions
How large is the EVgo and Brixmor expansion?
More than 500 DC fast charging stalls across at least 90 Brixmor shopping centers, representing more than 25 percent of the REIT's portfolio, in Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Texas. Sites carry up to 12 chargers at 350 kilowatts.
Should a landlord fund the electrical service upgrade?
It depends on whether the upgraded capacity has value beyond charging. Service capacity is reusable for storage, solar or future tenant loads, which makes it a durable improvement. Underwrite the residual capacity separately from projected charging revenue.
Is revenue share or a fixed fee better for the owner?
A fixed floor with participation above it generally serves the owner best. Pure revenue share places adoption risk on the party with the least control over adoption.
Why does the instrument matter?
A ground lease creates a leasehold interest that can complicate financing, encumber a sale and constrain redevelopment. A license or easement is more readily terminated and relocated, which matters when a center is reconfigured.
