"There was a lot of interest in the property," Insignia/ESG Capital Advisors executive director R. William Kent shares with GlobeSt.com. "A 31-acre zone for retail in a dense area is hard to find here." Insignia's Gary S. Lawrence joined Kent in orchestrating the transaction.

Crossroads Shopping Center occupies a sprawling space at the intersection of Rte. 7 and Columbia Pike in one of Fairfax County's seven designated revitalization areas. The decade-old retail property is one of the county's largest community shopping centers, trailing the 635,000-sf Seven Corners Shopping Center and the 485,000-sf Plaza at Landmark. A bevy of national retailers serve as Crossroads' anchors including Bed Bath & Beyond, Borders Books & Music, Circuit City, Marshall's, Safeway and Staples.

"The combination of strong retail demographics, an irreplaceable location, easy access and visibility, credit tenants and the ability to add value by leasing an available anchor store make this an outstanding long-term investment for RREEF," Kent notes in a statement. "This deal…is a further example of the current capital market conditions that make it a good time to be both a buyer and a seller of retail properties." For RREEF, the acquisition marks the company's first retail purchase of 2003 and its eighth property buy this year bringing its total acquisitions for 2003 to $309 million to date.