United Equities Breaks Into Arlington Retail Market

Buster Freedman, United Equities' president and CEO, says the vacant infill tract was flagged to buy when Fiesta sized up the store for a portfolio purchase of four Dallas/Fort Worth locations in the Jacksonville, FL-based Winn-Dixie Stores Inc.'s Texas exit. United Equities used 1.5 acres of the 2.5-acre parcel for Arlington Shopping Center at 1250 E. Pioneer Parkway. Now, Freedman tells GlobeSt.com he's courting a trio of retail users for a build-to-suit or outright sale of the one-acre balance.

The sweet spot to the infill project is frontage along parallel thoroughfares, Pioneer Parkway and Arkansas Lane. As a result, Freedman says it's been a fairly easy sell to retail tenants, with pre-leasing at 70% and a ribbon-cutting still 45 days away. He says the project's layout is driving lease-up "from back to front" so that all that's left is a 6,596-sf end cap.

United Equities has a 6,000-sf Sam's Dollar Store lined up to anchor its first project in Arlington. The roster also includes Bear Creek Dentistry, Little Caesar's and AMV Auto Insurance Agency.

Freedman says he's looking for more development sites, particularly since his newest Dallas/Fort Worth projects--all Fiesta anchored--have just 4,000 sf open out of more than 400,000 sf. The Houston-headquartered Fiesta Mart has 12 stores in North Texas.

United Equities, which leases and manages in-house, financed the project through Bank of America. Spring Valley Construction of Dallas is the general contractor.