Guy Morris, SVP of acquisitions and development for DLC Management, says that the deal took about eight months to complete and involved several debt structure changes due to the volatility in the finance markets. A lion's share of the portfolio is located in the Southeast, an area DLC has been concentrating on for some time, he adds. In the aggregate, the portfolio is approximately 85% leased.

[IMGCAP(2)]"We've been expanding our entire operation and our entire holdings in the Southeast for the past five years," Morris says. This is the second major deal between DLC Management and Edens & Avant within the past 13 months. In November 2006, DLC acquired a nine shopping center portfolio in the Southeast from E&A. Prior to its latest deal with E&A, DLC owned approximately two million sf of retail space in the Southeast. Now at the close of 2007, its portfolio totals more than three million sf.

In its latest deal with E&A, the largest property in the portfolio is the 211,178-sf Crossroads South center in Jonesboro, GA, which is anchored by Kroger and K-Mart. The deal compliments DLC's 235,219-sf Tara Crossing shopping center also located in Jonesboro.