Locally based Eastern Financial, which has been involved in realestate since the 1930s, has focused on real estate development andmanagement since selling its 22 movie theaters to RegalEntertaiment Group five years ago. Its Charlotte portfolio consistsprimarily of neighborhood retail centers in the affluent Myers Parkdistrict, including Providence Road Shops, Colony Shops and TheVilla, which total 90,000 square feet. Properties in Florida areVarsity Plaza in Tallahassee and Miracle Plaza in Jacksonville,totaling 134,000 square feet.

"This really is the end of an era and a momentous step for ourfamily," says Carter Meiselman, CEO of Eastern Financial. Most ofthe properties were bought by his grandfather, H.B. Meiselman, inthe 1940s and '50s and have been managed by the family since thattime, he says.

Crosland will also take on management and leasing of twohigh-profile apartment complexes, the 176-unit Ashley SquareApartments in SouthPark and the 190-unit Ten05 W. Trade. It willalso manage two in-town multifamily properties with 123 apartmentsand condominiums.