Wes Walters of Wes Walters Realty Inc. has turned around the 93%-leased Woodview Village, built in the mid-1980s on 2.9 acres at 500 W. Harwood Rd. in Hurst after a 10-month hold instead of the normal three to five years. The buyer is a private partnership from North Dallas; the property is a "mom and pop shop" property with a $1.8-million assessment.

Walters, head of an investment group, brought out 11 centers to sell what he could to raise $3 million to buy a Houston property. The response, he tells GlobeSt.com, "has really caught us off guard." He is collecting checks from $1.7 million to $8.1 million for nine properties ranging from 40,000 sf to 140,000 sf--each going to separate buyers.

In the rash of exchanges, Walters has hawked retail centers, with occupancies ranging from the mid-90% to full, in Colleyville, Hurst, San Antonio, Austin, Corpus Christi and Aransas Pass. For starters, he's buying in Fort Worth, Houston, Baytown and Galveston. Just two days ago, he sailed through three closings: the last asset in Austin and centers in San Antonio and Corpus Christi. The two-pronged play is retiring debt and building a 1031 Exchange pool.

The buy-sell climate has Walters holding a purchase contract on a shopping center in South Fort Worth while planning a tour next week for two out-of-state buyers who want to see a property he bought earlier this year in Arlington.

Seizing the buy-sell opportunities of today's market, Walters is now looking for replacement properties that are larger and more expensive, but still in the class A minus to class C categories. And, he says the hot market has anted up the buying power to $3 million to $15 million from a $5-million cap. As for the appetite, that's still the same strategy. "We will buy a class C in a class A neighborhood, but we won't buy a class A in a class C neighborhood," he says.