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DALLAS-In its first major move since its CB Richard Ellis merger, Trammell Crow Co. has inked a retail development deal with MetLife Inc. The program mimics initiatives that TCC has under way for office and industrial development with other partners.

Matt Khourie, president of Dallas-based TCC's central operations and national leader of its retail development business, tells GlobeSt.com that both sides are kicking in equity to fund a co-investment program with no ceilings on the funding amount or build side. "We are committed to do as many good deals as we can find," he says. "We didn't want to be constrained by caps or ceilings."

The TCC-MetLife initiative will fund 10- to 100-acre land purchases for urban and suburban developments weighing in, on average, at 250,000 sf to 400,000 sf. The program relies on TCC's development network in major metros in Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Oregon, the Northeast US and naturally, Texas and Florida. As for the rest of the heavy lifting, Khourie says "we're likely to hire our CB brethren to do the leasing on these projects." The development demographics are community, power and open-air lifestyle shopping centers in single and phased build-outs.