Behind-the-Scene Retail Trade Fetches $15M Plus

The two-year-old Western Heritage Towne Crossing at 3001 Glade Road was 97% occupied at sale time. The center is a product of John Weber of Weber & Co., a developer of class A power centers that almost always go quickly when they come to market.

"It was the first center that he had available after the West (Inland West REIT) opened up," Matthew Tice of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc. tells GlobeSt.com about the quiet takeover of its fourth shopping center in Texas. He says the price was settled within a week of Chris Green of Venture Commercial in Dallas bringing it to Inland and a closing came 30 days later.

The location at the crossroads of Glade Road and Texas 121, the national tenant roster and Weber's quality construction backed the quick decision to buy, according to Tice. Green landed the leasing assignment while Inland Southwest Management is assuming property oversight.

Western Heritage Towne Crossing is anchored by a 174,000-sf, corporate-owned SuperTarget sitting on a 20-acre tract. Taco Bell and Whataburger are tied to long-term ground leases for the two outparcels while inline tenants have no roll in leases for three years, Tice says of the acquired 7.6-acre stake in the project. The roster includes Washington Mutual, Panda Express, Mattress Firm and Gamestop.

The acquisition is Inland's fourth in Texas out of 16 bought in the last five months. More properties are under contract in Dallas/Fort Worth, Tice confides of a buying pool with $5.5 billion for acquisitions in the West in key markets like DFW. The West's portfolio totals three million sf, of which 1.5 million is in Texas. The goal, Tice says, is 20 million sf to put it on par with Atlanta and Charlotte, NC. The Oak Brook, IL-based Inland's coast-to-coast retail holdings tally 70 million sf.

The Western Heritage Towne Center transaction had Tice and Inland attorney Robin Rash on the buy side of the table. Weber and attorney Wayne Miller of Dallas steered their side of the deal.