REIT Disposes of 58,476-SF Shopping Center

The seller of the 27-year-old center at 105 Kenning Rd. was Weingarten Realty Investors of Houston, which was represented by George Cushing, Paula Foster and Wendy Vandeventer with Grubb & Ellis Co.'s Houston office. "This is the buyer's first transaction with Weingarten," Cushing says about Silvestri Investments, also from Houston.

Though the transaction was Silvestri Investment's first with Weingarten, Cushing had closed a deal between the buyer and New York City-based NewPlan Excel Realty Trust for the 45,873-sf Fondren Shopping Center at the intersection of Fondren Road and Bissonet Street. Cushing tells GlobeSt.com that the previous deal was one reason why the buyer beat out 10 other offers that came in during the two-month marketing of Crosby Shopping Center. "He had a competitive bid, which was important," Cushing adds. "We felt comfortable with him because we knew he'd perform."

Situated on 4.6 acres, the 91.6%-leased Crosby Shopping Center is anchored by a 30,979-sf Kroger that has a lease term until August 2009. Other tenants include Family Dollar, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service, Ryan's Express Cleaners and Subway. Additionally, Jack in the Box has begun construction on a pad site at the corner of Crosby-Lynchburg and Kenning roads.

Weingarten has two other local properties on the market at this time: the 163,011-sf Copperfield Village in the near west submarket at Texas 6 North and FM 529 and the 304,300 sf Fondren Southwest Village at Fondren Road's junction with West Bellfort Street in the southwest sector. Cushing says the offerings represent a standard reinvestment strategy for the REIT, adding that a call for offers on Fondren Southwest Village will take place next month while Copperfield Village's date has yet to be set.