The centers are mostly located in the St. Louis area, andinclude the 116,692-sf Zumbehl Commons in St. Charles, MO; the108,200-sf Wildwood Crossing in Wildwood, MO; the 209,703-sfKirkwood Commons in Kirkwood, MO (anchored by Wal-Mart) and the115,208-sf Bellerive Plaza in Creve Couer, MO. There are also a fewproperties included in Illinois, Indiana and Tennessee. Theportfolio has averaged 97% leased during the past five years, saysa spokeswoman with Regency.

The spokeswoman says this deal is just a continuation of alarge, historical partnership with Macquarie. Regency is basicallythe Australian trust's agent, she says. "We have an established 150shopping centers together, with a 75% Macquarie and 25% Regencysplit. We like the Schnucks portfolio because the company is thestrongest grocer in St. Louis, with a market share of 37%, and theyhave good demographics," she tells GlobeSt.com.

Desco is the real estate arm of Schnucks, and an acronym ofDonald E. Schnuck Co. President Mark Schnuck said in a statementMonday that the sale of a portion of the company's centers will addresources to the company's position in real estate development. "Weare selling 2.8 million sf, but we have 3.3 million sf underdevelopment in our pipeline today, as well as 3.2 million sf ofproperty that we are retaining," he said. Most of the 101 Schnuckssupermarkets are in centers not owned by the family.