Equity One's $32M Wins Regency Duo

"I don't know if we were the high bidder, but we were the best bidder," Alan Merkur, acquisitions director for the Miami-based Equity One, tells GlobeSt.com about the purchase of the 101,016-sf Creekside Plaza in Arlington and 118,092-sf Village in Southlake. He says the hotly chased pair reached the finish line about four months after they came to market as a double acquisition with a simultaneous closing requirement and without debt. "It generated a substantial amount of activity as you would expect," he says.

The Jacksonville, FL-headquartered Regency developed Southlake in 1996 and Creekside a year later. Equity One funded the transaction through an unsecured line of credit, headed by Wells Fargo.

The 18.9-acre Creekside Plaza has a 60,932-sf Kroger Signature store and 28,384 sf of fully leased inline space. Situated at the junction of Texas 360 and Green Oaks Boulevard, the shopping center purchase included a 2.5-acre out-parcel, which will be shopped as a ground lease or "for sale," and extra land for another 5,000 sf of retail. Merkur says the added retail will most likely break ground this year.

The Southlake holding, with a 60,932-sf Kroger Signature, has 57,160 sf of inline space on 13.1 acres at the corner of Southlake Boulevard and Village Center Drive, just west of Texas 114. The shopping center is 96% leased.

Merkur says both properties are in good condition, with anchor leases intact for Equity One's traditional long-term hold. Kroger's Southlake lease expires in 2020 and Creekside's in 2021, he confides. "As other leases roll, we'll be able to get better rents down the road," he says. Southlake's going rate is $20 per sf, or slightly more, and Creekside is quoted at $18 per sf.

Chris Cozby and Linda Simpson, both with Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co., ran the transaction. The buy side's bargaining teamed Merkur and Kevin Holland, who heads up acquisitions in Equity One's Houston office.

Merkur says Equity One is "looking to add a considerable amount more in Texas. We're in the hunt on a couple." And, he's not saying where other than Texas or when, just "stay tuned.