Lightstone REIT Buys Kohl’s-Anchored Center for $20M

BRIDGETON, MO-The Love Cos. has sold the 193,543-square-foot Plaza at DePaul retail center here for $19.8 million. New York City-based Lightstone Group, through its non-traded REIT Lightstone Value Plus Real Estate Investment Trust, bought the site, using a CMBS loan assumption of $11.8 million.

Love, based in St. Louis, developed the center, located at St. Charles Rock and McKelvey roads. The property is anchored by Aldi and a Kohl’s Department Store, which recently underwent a remodel and executed a 10-year lease extension.

Brett Chetek, a first vice president at CBRE, represented Love in the sale. The property is 87% occupied, sold for $105 per square foot, is next to the Depaul Health Center and down the street from newer retail, Chetek tells GlobeSt.com. “THF Realty is building a Walmart Supercenter just east of the Plaza,” he says. “Credit-orientated retail properties such as this, in strong locations, are doing well in the St. Louis area, it’s the lesser product that has mostly local tenants that is suffering. If you’ve got a property with a Kohl’s or a strong grocer, there’s a lot of investor demand.”

David Lichtenstein, chairman of the Lightstone trust, said in a statement that he agrees that the strength of Kohl’s was a strong draw. “LVPR viewed this acquisition as an opportunity to obtain a well-located, proven center, in a thriving area at the doorstep of a major regional medical center,” he said.

The trust plans to upgrade the property and explore potential outparcel opportunities. The group hired St. Louis-based Pace Properties to manage the center.