The shopping center at 6301 Parmer Lane is 90% leased with a mixof national and credit tenants like Wachovia Corp., WashingtonMutual Inc., Starbucks Corp., Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., ColdStone Creamery and Whataburger Restaurants LP. The tenant base wasthe impetus for SCI Real Estate Investments LLC to acquire thecenter from Dallas-based Parmer-McNeil Holdings Ltd.

"What's great about this particular deal is we were able to buyit on 90% occupancy. Typically sellers will sell on 95% occupancyand guarantee the remaining 5%," explains Scott Derrick, chiefacquisitions officer for the Los Angeles-based SCI. "It means wecan lease the 10% and get all the upside." Derrick points out thatthe tenants all have long-term leases, whether they are inline orground. And, there's enough in the pipeline to hit 100%occupancy.

Although Parmer McNeil Plaza is SCI's first Austin investment,there are more buys on the horizon. The company has multifamily andstudent housing complexes scheduled to close in the next six monthsand is trying to get three more student housing assets undercontract before the year ends.