Hampton Partners principal Scott Robinson tells GlobeSt.com that its total cost to acquire, rehab, demise and release the buildings is estimated at between $60 million and $65 million. Robinson did not break out the acquisition cost, which is believed to be approximately 50% of the total. The management and leasing of the properties will be handled by Debbie Tamlin, president of the Ft. Collins-based brokerage firm ZTI Group and also a partner in the acquisition with Hampton and Inland.

The portfolio includes nine fee buildings and eight that are leasehold properties. The general plan for the owned properties is to rehab and demise them into two- or three-tenant spaces and lease them to retailers such as Petsmart, Office Depot, Staples, Dollar Tree, Ace Hardware and Goodwill. What actually happens at each particular property will depend on the demographics and what already exists at competitive properties.

The general plan for the leasehold properties is to either acquire the entire center within which the building sits for a repositioning or sell the leasehold to the owner of the center. "Either way, that's probably the best thing for the centers," Robinson says.

In April, from the same seller, a JV of ScanlanKemperBard Cos. of Portland, OR and Praedium Group of New York City acquired a portfolio of nine former Albertson's buildings totaling 506,000 sf for between $50 per sf and $118 per sf, depending on the building. Most of that portfolio is located in Arizona and 25% of the lettable space was preleased to Ross, Staples and Office Depot prior to the sale.