Retail Market Tests Inland's, NYSTRS' Discipline

OAK BROOK, IL-Acquiring properties for its own portfolio as well as its joint venture partners is likely to take longer than Inland Real Estate Corp. had hoped. The retail REIT has acquired $125 million in assets for joint venture partner New York State Teachers Retirement System, putting it about one-third toward its goal of $400 million after a year.

"Competition for high-quality, stabilized retail assets is as fierce as ever," says president and chief executive officer Robert D. Parks, adding sellers' expectations remain high despite rising interest rates. Inland Real Estate Corp. hopes to close on five deals totaling $102 million, either by the end of the year or early 2006, Parks says. The joint venture surpassed the two-million-sf mark with the September additions of Mapleview Shopping Center in Grayslake and Showplace Theater Center in Crystal Lake.

Meanwhile, the company is poised to launch another joint venture aimed at developing suburban retail centers, chief operating officer Mark E. Zalatoris says, with returns expected to be in the double digits.

Inland Real Estate Corp. officials note capitalization rates on retail assets that have sold have averaged below 6%. However, acquisitions for the joint venture with NYSTRS have averaged 7.6%, reports Zalatoris. "We believe that to be significantly above the average market rates," he adds.

Inland Real Estate Corp. sold a 15,856-sf Walgreen's in far northwest suburban Woodstock for $1.3 million, according to the company.

Occupancy across the REIT's 13-million-sf portfolio stood at 96.5% entering the last three months of the year. The company signed 30 new leases in the third quarter involving 138,918 sf, garnering $15.59 per sf, a 24.7% increase over the previous rent. Three of the deals involved anchor tenants, agreeing to pay $18.09 per sf for 55,434 sf.