Steve Levin, president of property owner Centennial Real Estate Co. LLC says the company's lease was the catalyst to launch a multi-million-dollar renovation of the 1980s shopping center, which is at Spring Creek Parkway and U.S. Hwy 75/North Central Expressway. "It's very underutilized," Levin acknowledges. "It needs a complete redevelopment plan." Now, with the anchor tenant in place, Centennial Real Estate and partner Westmount Realty Capital LLC can move forward on completely overhauling the exterior façade. The renovation will also lead to a new name for the center: 99 Ranch Marketplace.

The Dallas-based joint venture acquired Spring Creek Crossing in 2007 during the time when Albertson's was unloading real estate assets throughout North Texas. But buying the center in its entirety proved to be a challenge. "Many years ago, the center had been sold off in pieces, and when we bought it back, we had to buy the various pieces from three owners, and put it back together," Levin tells GlobeSt.

During the past two years, Centennial Real Estate and Westmount Realty fielded queries from various interested parties for the Albertson's space. With those queries came different remodeling plans, Levin says. One plan called for keeping the former Alberton's space intact, while another called for it to be sliced into smaller pieces. "We must have had 20 different plans, with different types of potential tenants, requiring different types of things here," he says.

The good news for the partnership, however, was that its first choice, attracting a single-tenant anchor, occurred. What makes the deal even more special is that this space is 99 Ranch Market's first in the Dallas area. The tenant was represented by John Zikos and Bryan Cornelius of Venture Commercial Real Estate.

"Their store will be fabulous," Levin remarks. "They really have a great concept." He says that the shopping center's renovation will be completed in time for 99 Ranch Market's grand opening.

In the meantime, 45,000 square feet of space is vacant in the rest of the center. Levin predicts that with the anchor tenant firmly in place, more potential retailers will show interest in the empty space. Because of the location, this being a regional location as well as a neighborhood, there will likely be a lot of interest from a lot of different tenants," he says.