WHITEHOUSE, OH—The retail sector has strengthened due to increasing consumer confidence, and with very little new development on the horizon, investors are eager to snap up centers as they hit the market. Devonshire REIT has been especially active recently. The Whitehouse, OH-based trust just acquired three more centers located across much of the Midwest for $88.4 million: The Plaza at Chapel Hill in Akron/Cuyahoga Falls, OH; Oak Park Town Center in Chattanooga, TN and Forest Park Plaza in Brazil, IN, near Terre Haute.
"Each of these properties sits at the gateway entrance to their respective cities, is the dominant shopping center in the area, and boasts an exciting mix of tenants,” says Mike Denman, executive vice president of real estate operations for Devonshire. “With 95% average occupancy and predominantly national tenants, the centers provide both stable cash flow and upside potential. The Plaza at Chapel Hill is especially noteworthy because it's the single largest property acquisition in the history of Devonshire and it offers 18 acres of undeveloped space that's already drawing significant interest."
The purchases also continue what has been an extremely active year for Devonshire, which focuses a lot of attention on the Midwest, especially Ohio. As reported in GlobeSt.com, for example, Devonshire recently acquired three shopping centers at a total cost of $69.75 million: Maple Hill Mall in Kalamazoo, MI; Alpine Summit Shopping Center in Grand Rapids, MI; and Northwest Crossings Shopping Center in Knoxville, TN.
In addition, the trust recently bought the grocery-anchored Pavilion Shopping Center in Beachwood, a suburb of Cleveland, for $35 million. And that purchase came on the heels of its $31 million purchase of five other centers in the Toledo area.
"In the last three weeks we've added over $158 million in new properties to our portfolio,” says Chris Campbell, president and chief executive officer. Since the end of last year, “we've more than doubled our total assets under management making this the second year in a row we've accomplished that feat."
The Plaza at Chapel Hill is a 456,044-square-foot center on Highway 8 - the major north/south feeder into the Akron CBD and the University of Akron. The center includes several national tenants as anchors and sub-anchors - Giant Eagle, TJ Maxx, HH Gregg, Burlington Coat Factory, Dick's Sporting Goods, OfficeMax, Marc's, Pier 1 Imports, Shoe Carnival, Party City and Plato's Closet. Tenants currently occupy 94.3% of the space.
Oak Park Town Center is a 174,384-square-foot Walmart-anchored center. Gander Mountain and Burkes Outlet recently moved into the center as sub-anchors. Additional tenants include: Office Depot, Party City, Shoe Carnival and Petco. The center is 96% occupied.
Forest Park Plaza is a 105,698-square-foot Kroger-anchored neighborhood center. Additional national tenants include: Dollar Tree, CATO Fashions, Hibbett Sports and Carquest. The property is 96% occupied.
The latest acquisitions push Devonshire's total assets under management past $450 million and increases total GLA to 4.5-million-square-feet.
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Brian J. Rogal
Brian J. Rogal is a Chicago-based freelance writer with years of experience as an investigative reporter and editor, most notably at The Chicago Reporter, where he concentrated on housing issues. He also has written extensively on alternative energy and the payments card industry for national trade publications.
