TOWN AND COUNTRY, MO-Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust, based in Farmington Hills, MI, recently bought the Town and Country Crossing retail center here for $37.8 million. The 282,000-square-foot property, anchored by a Whole Foods market and shadow-anchored by a Target, shows how well grocery-anchored retail is faring in today’s volatile retail sector.
A group of investors built the center in 2008, including Philadelphia-based Amerimar Enterprises Inc., St. Louis-based Emerald Properties Group and New York-based Angelo Gordon & Co. A special taxing district was created during the development to finance more than $10.5 million in roadway improvements around the center.
The property, at the southwest corner of Woods Mill and Clayton roads, is 81% leased, and includes other tenants Five Guys Burgers, FedEx, PNC Bank, Qdoba Mexican Grill, Sprint and Verizon. This is the second St. Louis center purchased by the trust, which bought Heritage Place for $39.4 million from Pace Properties in May.
Dennis Gershenson, president and CEO of the retail trust, tells GlobeSt.com that the company has been selling non-core or non-performing properties to gain cash to acquire strong grocery-anchored sites. “Similar to our peers, we are working to upgrade the quality of our portfolio,” he says. “If you look at the three centers we sold this year, their trade areas were maxed out and the assets were beginning to lose sales.”
He says the St. Louis properties had demographics that show income of $95,000 to $115,000 average per household, and had cap rates in the mid-7% range. The company plans to sell about $25 million worth of centers in 2012, and is currently examining three properties to purchase. “We’re looking for centers that have multiple anchors with significant credit, with the number one supermarket in their area,” Gershenson says. The trust currently owns and manages a portfolio of 84 centers in 13 states.
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