Leading the buy side is David Pemberton, who just last week resigned as partner and cashed in his stock 11 months after merging the tenant rep division of Tricor Realty Services with locally based UCR. Pemberton held onto the acquisition arm, renaming the firm to Centcom Realty Corp. The just-closed deal is the culmination of 23 months of negotiating for a portfolio--never on the market--during some of the toughest economic times that the nation has experienced since the Great Depression.

The value-add package has properties averaging 110,000 sf, some in need of renovation, with ages ranging from 15 to 18 years. The upside will be cornered by increasing occupancy, now at an overall 78%. In each case, the properties are dominant neighborhood centers at key intersections in Midland, Odessa, Abilene and San Angelo. Rents range from $8 per sf to $10 per sf.

Pemberton's dream deal fell apart once and then came back strong after buyers, lenders and loan arrangers heard retail pros at the ICSC confab predict secondary markets would be the hotspots of tomorrow as national retailers look beyond the metros to stake new claims. "In every one of these cities where we bought properties, there is a power center being planned," Pemberton, Centcom's chairman and CEO, tells GlobeSt.com. "We felt that added validity." The package was acquired from a Midland-based investor using single-asset structuring for each property.