At this time last year, Inland had only closed on half of this amount of transactions. In all, Inland closed on $4 billion of properties in 2004. "We are now on pace to surpass that dollar amount easily," says Joe Cosenza, Inland's chairman, in a statement.

Individual transactions so far this year have ranged from the $102.3 million that Inland Western paid for the 507,615-sf Maple Tree Plaza, in Williston, VT; to $2.2 million that Inland Western paid for an Eckerd pharmacy in Atlanta. The largest center it has acquired so far this year is the 628,626-sf Gateway Shopping Center, in Salt Lake City, also through Inland Western.

Inland's companys own about 700 centers. Inland Retail owns 285, Inland Western has 175, Inland Real Estate has 145 and other entities hold the remainder.