WHITTIER, CA-Phoenix-based Cole Real Estate Investments hasacquired 533,518 rentable square feet of retail space at theWhittwood Town Center for $83.5 million, according to a publicfiling by Cole Credit Property Trust III Inc, a nontraded REIT.Cole acquired the property from Morgan Stanley's Prime PropertyFund, which was represented by Downtown Los Angeles-based executivemanaging director Marc Renard of the Cushman & WakefieldCapital Markets Group and his team.

The Whittwood Town Center, at 15608 Whittwood Lane, was 96.4%occupied at the time of closing, with a tenant roster includingTarget, Sears, JC Penney and others, according to the Cole publicfiling. The property was originally constructed in the 1950s butwas redeveloped in 2004.

Scott Holmes, vice president of acquisitions for Cole, tellsGlobeSt.com that the investment firm was attracted to theacquisition by "the high-credit quality and long term leases of thetenants, particularly the 20-plus-year ground lease with Target, aswell as the supply-constrained nature and density of thelocation."