The joint venture expects to acquire an additional $100 millionof centers each year of the venture. The term for the venture isexpected to be between five to seven years, Windley tellsGlobeSt.com.

[IMGCAP(2)]The focus of the venture will be the acquisition ofshopping centers adjacent to newer Wal-Mart Supercenters, orsimilar national discount retailers such as Target, Windley says.The joint venture allows Schostak to continue adding properties tothe portfolio and allows BVT to enter the shadow-anchor market,Windley says.

"We particularly like centers in small to mid-size markets wherethe Wal-Mart and the retail around it becomes the center of gravityfor the entire market and the surrounding area," he says. The focuson shopping centers offers the venture different exit strategiessuch as selling the entire portfolio off in the future, selling"small groups" of centers or selling single properties, Windleysays. "The flexibility of an exit is attractive to us," he says.But, "we are not locked into a specific exit or a specific timeframe," he adds.