Mike Huffman, a senior vice president of debt and structured finance for ORIX, says the properties are a great value-creation opportunity. The centers were built in the early 1990s, he says.
The properties are the 109,000-sf Windsor Bay shopping center at 1120 County Line Road in Westerville and 5387 Roberts Road in Hilliard. In total, the properties are about 40 percent occupied, says Terry Connors, a vice president with ORIX. "About 110,000 sf is vacant," he tells GlobeSt.com. "These centers were built to be anchored by Big Bear grocery stores, but in late 2003, the company declared bankruptcy and then liquidated their properties. Kroger picked up many of them, but not these two."
"Both submarkets are middle-to-upper-middle class suburbs of Columbus, with solid retail and centers geared to service," Connors says. "Rushmore has a game plan, they have interest now from tenants. During the time the properties were under contract they formulated a leasing plan, that's the plan we're financing. Having just closed, they haven't gone out to market for the spaces, but they will be out shortly."
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.