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KANSAS CITY, KS-Henry S. Miller Equity Partners, based in Dallas, has purchased four retail centers from Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors for $70 million. The retail properties, located in the Kansas City area, total 575,000 sf and were purchased at an 8% cap rate.

The properties include:

• The 201,974-sf Regency Park Shopping Center located at 93rd and Metcalf Avenue in Overland Park, KS. With a 92% occupancy, anchor tenants include Borders, Marshalls, Dress Barn, Michaels and Micro Center.
• Westbrooke Village North Shopping Center located at Quivira Road and 75th Street in Shawnee, which measures 133,915 sf and has an 82% occupancy level. Anchor tenants include DSW Shoes, K & G and Borders.
• The 103,732-sf Westbrooke Village South Shopping Center located at Quivira Road and 75th Street in Shawnee and is anchored by Dillon's Grocery and Starbucks. The center is 90% occupied.
• Pinetree Plaza Shopping Center, located at Highway 50 and Jefferson Street in Lees Summit, MO, which is 97% occupied. Anchor tenants include Price Chopper, Brook Mays and Baskin Robbins.

Vance Miller, chairman and CEO of Henry S. Miller Equity Partners, says the deal came as an unexpected offer from the seller. "We have a mutually respectful relationship with Weingarten, and frankly, they put us on the spot," Miller tells GlobeSt.com. "They asked if we could close in less than two months, which we were able to do, and it helped their business in the close of their second quarter."

Henry S. Miller Equity, which does little work in the Midwest outside of acquiring excess land from Wal-Mart for its smaller retail clients, is planning to branch out into other Midwest and Southwest territories. "We're looking at deals all over the Midwest, and we will find something else in the next year or so," Miller says. In May, the company sold its 224,557-sf Village of Woodland Hills Shopping Center at 6808 S. Memorial Dr. in Tulsa, OK.