EXTON, PA-WP Exton Associates LLC has taken title to Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust's "non-core" Festival at Exton. The 145,000-sf community shopping center traded for $20.3 million, or $140 per sf. The buyer is a local-area company with retail properties throughout the Northeast.

GMACCM provided WP Exton with $17.5 million in floating-rate interim acquisition financing for the buy, and David Fishler, VP of the New York City loan origination office of GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corp led the transaction. Epstein Canarick, a mortgage brokerage firm, also based in New York, represented the borrower.

The center was built in 1991 and expanded in 1997. "It's in good shape and in an excellent location, an affluent suburb 30 miles west of Philadelphia," Fishler says, and tells GlobeSt.com it is currently 50% vacant. The vacancy includes a 40,000-sf former Clemens Family Market anchor spot plus some inline units. Among the current tenants are Applebee's and Bonefish Grill.

"The loan was structured to provide the borrower with maximum financial flexibility based on the low occupancy," Fishler says. "It provides a significant portion up front for the deed, full tenant improvement and leasing commissions as well as the opportunity to recoup some equity based on property performance. They can get 100% back if they lease that big anchor space," he says. The average asking retail rental rates range from $15 per sf to $20 per sf.