WHITEHOUSE, OH-Locally-based Devonshire REIT reports it has acquired five retail properties in Ohio for a total purchase price of $31 million.

The properties were purchased from local real estate developers and investors, Tom Helberg and Thomas Schlachter.

The properties that are now part of the Devonshire portfolio include: the Monroe Street Square Shopping Center at 5333 Monroe St. in Toledo. The shopping center totals 124,904 square feet and has Hobby Lobby as its anchor. Other national retail tenants occupying the center include Sally Beauty Supply, Gamestop, Play It Again Sports and Sprint PCS. Devonshire also purchased the Bed, Bath & Beyond Plaza at 5135 Monroe St. in Toledo, which is a 100% leased, 55,139-square-foot Bed, Bath & Beyond-anchored center. Also in the Devonshire fold is the Office Depot Plaza at 5107 Monroe St. in Toledo, a 100% leased, 45,594-square-foot Office Depot-anchored center.

The other two properties acquired by Devonshire are Pier 1 Imports at 5203 Monroe St. in Toledo, a 9,860-square-foot single-tenant triple-net leased property, and the Villages at Waterville Landing in Waterville, OH, a 350-acre mixed-use development with 125 acres zoned for retail development. Devonshire has acquired the retail portion of the project, which currently includes a new, 80,000-square-foot Kroger, a Farmers & Merchants State Bank branch and a Speedway fuel center that is under construction. Plans for the remaining undeveloped retail space are being kept confidential at this time, company officials state.

Goldman Sachs Mortgage Company provided financing for the Monroe Street acquisitions and for the refinancing of the first phase at Franklin Place. The financing package totaled $24 million.

Chris Campbell, CEO and president of Devonshire, said of the firm's latest acquisitions, "We believe in, and are investing in, the future of the Toledo metropolitan area. The acquisitions on Monroe Street and in Waterville prove this by effectively bracketing this area. With the jobs created by the new retailers Devonshire attracts to its centers and those created by the construction and management of those centers, Devonshire is a catalyst for Toledo's reawakening economy - not just a beneficiary."