Turnaround Pro Takes On 91,357-SF Center

FORT WORTH-A Midland-based repositioning pro has bagged its first retail deed in the metroplex, taking on a 91,357-sf challenge that's been on the market about one year for $8.9 million. The value-add play focuses on a 61,676-sf vacant Winn-Dixie grocery store.

Acting as Northside Realty Partners Ltd., Midway Real Estate has acquired Northside Marketplace, a 29.82-acre footprint at 1900 Ephriham Ave. taken back by the lender, Amegy Mortgage Co. of Houston. The acquisition falls into the redevelopment sweet spot, with Blockbuster Video and Payless ShoeSource in place with new leases and ample land for pad sites.

Greg McDonald, executive vice president for Dallas-based Weitzman Group, tells GlobeSt.com that the empty Winn-Dixie is being divvied into three spaces, one-third of which is committed. "I think you're going to see more and more of these types of redevelopment," he says.

Midway Real Estate, led by Richard A. Motycka, was brought to the table by William A. Sandlin with Synergy Properties Group in Fort Worth. "They are value-added purchasers," he says. "This property is well built and well located. With the growth in this area of Fort Worth, there are some opportunities there for retailers. They thought it was the right time for them to come into this particular asset."

Sandline says the buyer historically games out a one- to five-year hold for its purchases, now a retail-weighted portfolio in Houston, San Antonio and Midland. He says Midway owns one other property in Dallas/Fort Worth, an assisted-living center.

McDonald and Weitzman vice president Donn M. Fuller got the listing just as Winn-Dixie moved into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2005 so the lease was immediately rejected for Northside Marketplace, built just five years earlier near Ephriham Avenue's intersection with Jacksboro Highway. Amegy put Weitzman in charge of leasing and selling the asset, which drew less than its ask.

Weitzman is holding onto the leasing, but the new owner also carries weight in the industry. "They bring some relationships to the table that should help," Sandlin says.