Strong DC area Presence

Of those first acquisitions this year, two were in the Washington DC area: retail centers in Merrifield, Va., and Hagerstown, Md., which it purchased off-market for $72.7 million. It also recently opened an office in Tysons, VA, placing a development team there, CEO Steve Grimes said in a recent earnings call.

The REIT has three local area mid-term projects in pre-development status at the moment: Towson Circle in Baltimore, Md; Boulevard at the Capital Centre, in Largo, Md.; and Merrifield Town Center II in Falls Church, Va. Grimes said they will provide for the opportunity to lower the company's equity outlay and improve its risk-adjusted return profile through the monetization of air rights.

ASHBURN, VA–Retail Properties of America has entered into a $163.1 million purchase agreement to buy One Loudoun Downtown — the retail centerpiece of One Loudoun with some office thrown in — from Miller & Smith and North America Sekisui House, the master developers of the 360-acre master planned community. The purchase will be done in phases and the final acquisition price will be determined based on certain performance thresholds, according to the Oak Brook, Ill.- based REIT's announcement. A call to Retail Properties of America by GlobeSt.com was not returned in time for publication.

The first phase of the purchase, for $120 million, will close at the end of this year. The remaining phases, for $38.1 million, will close over the first three quarters of 2017 as the stand-alone buildings on the retail complex are developed and delivered.

One Loudoun Downtown is anchored by Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, The Fresh Market, Great Gatherings and The Fitness Equation. The first phase is about 342,000 square feet, of which 236,800 square feet is retail. The remaining 105,200 square feet of space has been developed for office use. The remaining phases currently under development will have a similar retail-office ratio: 78,300 square feet of retail and 46,300 square feet of office.

The acquisition is a significant one for the REIT, considering that in the first five months of the year it closed on four assets for a combined $216 million — not much more, in other words, than what it paid for One Loudoun Downtown.

Strong DC area Presence

Of those first acquisitions this year, two were in the Washington DC area: retail centers in Merrifield, Va., and Hagerstown, Md., which it purchased off-market for $72.7 million. It also recently opened an office in Tysons, VA, placing a development team there, CEO Steve Grimes said in a recent earnings call.

The REIT has three local area mid-term projects in pre-development status at the moment: Towson Circle in Baltimore, Md; Boulevard at the Capital Centre, in Largo, Md.; and Merrifield Town Center II in Falls Church, Va. Grimes said they will provide for the opportunity to lower the company's equity outlay and improve its risk-adjusted return profile through the monetization of air rights.