Having advised Dividend Capital to pursue the hotly contested portfolio, WestRidge managing director Joshua Kagan tells GlobeSt.com there were many features that made the bid worthwhile. "The locations by and large are very strong," offers Kagan, noting that the properties are in heavily populated regions such as south suburban Boston. Many of the sites are in hard-to-develop communities, especially several situated on Cape Cod where commercial development can be onerous, especially for hulking retail properties.

As detailed in the initial GlobeSt.com story in May, the Cape assets include Star Market-anchored developments in Harwich and Hyannis; the Skaket Corners Shopping Plaza in Orleans; and a Stop & Shop plaza in Sandwich. Off-Cape assets in Massachusetts are situated in Braintree, Rockland and Wareham, while the portfolio also extends into Connecticut and Rhode Island. A plaza in Middleborough was dropped from the package for unknown reasons. Kagan declined to discuss the deletion, while officials at Tedeschi and Dividend Capital did not respond by press deadline. Had that asset been included, the sale price would have been about $392 million. Observers estimate the portfolio had close to 90% occupancy at the time of the sale, and supposedly traded for a capitalization rate in the 6% range. The remaining three centers are expected to close this summer.

Although Kagan declined to discuss specifics of the deal, or provide future plans for the properties, he did stress that the new ownership is not seeking to flip the properties as some players have done in the currently frenetic investment market. "This is not a short-term hold by any stretch," he says. Besides benefiting from a stable cash flow already in place, and "becoming landlord to some of the major tenants in the Northeast," Kagan says the buyers are enthused by the ability to draw even more income over time, either through greater efficiencies or developing new space. "If you drill down deep into each of these assets, you are going to build value over time," says Kagan, who also credits Rockland-based Tedeschi for quality construction and maintenance of the centers.