CHICAGO—Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc. announced today the acquisition of three properties purchased in August on behalf of an Inland affiliate. The acquisitions include a new student housing community in Orlando, a Federal Express facility in Kettleman City, CA, and a Kohl's store in Greeley, CO. The trio cost more than $104 million and has a total of about 607,000 square feet.

“What ties all three properties together is that all were off-market transactions,” Joe Cosenza, president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc. and vice chairman of The Inland Real Estate Group, Inc., tells GlobeSt.com. He attributes this to the Oak Brook, IL-based company's long-standing reputation. “This is not bragging; we've been around so long, there are so many people out there that know us.” And when sellers go to Inland, they know the company has the resources to close a purchase.

For example, Mark Cosenza, an Inland vice president, was approached at a recent student housing conference about The Retreat at Orlando, an off-campus, 894-bed student housing community located near the University of Central Florida with about 427,657 square feet of net leasable floor area. And when he looked it over, he liked what he saw. The new community, about 2.5 miles from campus and now 100% occupied, leased up faster than any of its comps. And with an average rent per student of about $700 a month, the property will generate a solid flow of cash but still has room to grow over the long term. Inland paid about $81,000 per unit, Cosenza says.

The Federal Express facility has 89,880 square feet of industrial space, and even though it's not in a top-tier market, Cosenza says it has several key attributes that make it a great addition to the Inland portfolio. Perhaps most importantly, Federal Express committed to this location in a big way by signing a thirty-year lease. “I've never seen a thirty-year lease,” he says, at lease on a facility of this kind, most of which carry a ten or fifteen-year lease.

The Kohl's retail store has 89,492 square feet and is located within the Centerplace Shopping Center. Although it's also not in a top-tier market, Cosenza says it's a great location, next door to a Safeway, a Target and many other top retailers. Furthermore, the property brings in a solid rent, but is still low enough that it could be improved.

When Cosenza and the Inland team look at a property, he adds, the most important question is “it something that we feel is a good piece of real estate? These acquisitions are 100% occupied, newer construction and ideally located. We will continue to search for similar properties for the remainder of the year.”