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A large portion of Colonie Center that includes Whole Foods Market, Floor & Decor and the soon-to-open Sierra sold for $28 million.

Heidenberg Properties Group of New Jersey, which owns more than 2.4 million-square-feet of retail properties from Vermont to Virginia, closed on the purchase April 23, according to Jason Lazar, chief operating officer.

The purchase includes the 243,389-square-foot portion of the mall anchored by Whole Foods; a 28,000-square-foot standalone building leased to BJ’s Restaurant & Brewhouse, Ethan Allen, Cycle Gear and Sleep Number; and two development pads, one of which will be leased to Bank of America.

The seller was Seritage Growth Properties (NYSE: SRG), which was spun off from Sears to manage and liquidate the department store chain’s real estate holdings.

Provident Bank of New Jersey financed the deal.

Whole Foods Market opened in 2014 on the ground floor of the former Sears. The department store closed three years later. Most of the building sat empty until recently, when Floor & Decor opened last October. Sierra, a discount retailer, is expected to open this summer.

Heidenberg was drawn to the deal because of the strength of the Whole Foods Market’s sales and lease terms, along with other tenants and the opportunity to fill about 94,000 square feet of empty space on the second floor of the former Sears.

“We like the ability to add value,” Lazar said. “Most important, we want to make sure the tenants in place are going to stay there.”

The acquisition comes at a tenuous time for the owner of most of the rest of the shopping center, Pacific Retail Capital Partners of California.

An LLC affiliated with the owner defaulted on the debt backed by the portion of the 1.3 million-square-foot mall that includes Boscov’s, Regal Cinemas, L.L. Bean, Barnes & Noble, Nordstrom, Cheesecake Factory and the former Christmas Tree Shops.

The section occupied by Macy’s is separately owned by the retail chain.

While the outstanding debt needs to be resolved, Lazar said the situation doesn’t impact the operations of the mall or the other tenants, many of whom are still performing well. Colonie Center needs new investments, he said, but overall has a strong foundation.

“It’s not a mall that’s going to become a dying mall,” he said of the shopping center, which has expanded and changed considerably since opening nearly 60 years ago.

Asked whether Heidenberg Properties Group would be interested in someday owning the entire mall, he said, “We always look for opportunities to add to our portfolio. Owning Colonie Center might make the mall attractive to us under the right circumstances.”

For now, the company is focusing on finding tenants to fill the available space, most of which is on the second floor of the former Sears. RedMark Realty of Clifton Park is serving as the exclusive broker.

“The level of interest is tremendous,” said Alex Kutikov, broker/managing partner of Redmark.

The best fit there will likely be an entertainment or experiential type of tenant. That’s because of the large amount of space available and the multiple potential entrances with strong visibility from Central Avenue and Wolf Road. A letter of intent has been signed with one tenant, whose name wasn’t disclosed.

Heidenberg Properties Group is very familiar with the Albany regional market through its ownership of the Kohl’s shopping plaza at 1814 Central Ave. Tenants there include Farmer’s India Market and O’Toole’s Restaurant Pub.