De Rito president Chuck Carlise says there were several compelling reasons for the company to buy the center at 9175 E. Indian Bend Rd. from Ralph and Rob Horlacher of Scottsdale. Foremost, he says the center easily could benefit from redevelopment because it's 87% leased to credit tenants and is a proven shopping destination.

"This is a successful center. It's not as though it's empty and blighted and no one is shopping there," Carlise explains to GlobeSt.com. "It's just a matter of focusing on what isn't present in that submarket and redeveloping it to meet those needs."

Carlise says that the company is awaiting approval from the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community, which owns the land on which the center sits, so it can begin cosmetic upgrades like painting, a new parking lot and new landscaping. Future redevelopment will depend on responses from a community outreach program that De Rito is initiating to determine the best option for the center. "We're trying to find out what shoppers and tenants are looking for from this center," Carlise says. There is no plan, however, to gut the entire center to its bare bones.

"The upside of any of these types of centers is to utilize as much of what you can already to try to bring them up to a modern-day standard without tearing them down," Carlise says, adding it will be 18 months to two years before any hard-core renovations are made to Scottsdale Pavilion.

Carlise says the other dealmaker was "we bought it for probably half of what it would cost to build it today." In addition, it's situated along Loop 101. Given the scarcity of land in the submarket and rising construction costs, he says 135 acres represents an outstanding investment with not much comparative outlay.

In fact, Carlise says De Rito is making a commitment this year to acquire existing retail centers for redevelopment in Arizona, California and Nevada. "We'll take almost anything," he stresses. "We can develop three- to five-acre parcels all the way up to 250 acres. We'd buy an old Jack-in-the-Box building, if it's the right opportunity."