The land acquisition closed with 25% of the planned retail pre-leased, Doug Schooley of Sterling Centrecorp's Dallas office tells GlobeSt.com. He says the plan is to fill the center with neighborhood services, much like the two salons that have already reserved spaces.

The deal started brewing at the International Council of Shopping Centers' 2002 regional conference in San Antonio, says Collin Lasater, vice president of Fort Worth-based Woodmont Co. He represented the seller, Harwood Development LP, a Woodmont entity, while Schooley handled talks for Sterling.

Schooley says the "Albertsons Plaza" will be renamed Arbor Creek Shopping Center or Marketplace, one of several undecided issues about the upcoming development. Meanwhile, two pad sites have attracted three lookers in the fast food and auto parts industries, he says of land being hawked for $8 per sf. The shadow retail alone will add roughly 25,000 sf at build out to the Albertsons anchor, which sits on a five-acre, corporate-owned tract.

Sterling Centrecorp manages 15 retail centers in Dallas-Fort Worth plus owns land in the region. Besides Dallas and Toronto, the firm also has offices in West Palm Beach, Orlando, FL, Scottsdale, AZ and San Antonio, TX.