December 2, 2005 – Retail Portfolio in Midwest Trades Hands
The properties range in size from about 12,000 to 62,000 square feet, and include three centers in Illinois (Champaign, Decatur and Jacksonville), three in Indiana (Crawfordsville, Decatur and Huntington), three in Michigan (Benton Harbor, Owosso and Sturgis), two in Kansas (Chanute and El Dorado), and one each in Minnesota and Ohio (Little Falls and Mansfield, respectively).
“Though there are still fewer buyers in smaller markets than in major metro areas, there’s been a distinct increase in interest in secondary and even tertiary markets recently,” said George Good, executive vice president in the Chicago office of CB Richard Ellis, which represented the seller in the deal. “Investors are recognizing that there are stable properties in these smaller places, some of them even offering slightly better returns than in larger markets.”
All of the properties in the portfolio are of relatively recent vintage, built in the mid-1990s adjacent to Wal-Marts, though Wal-Mart developed and owned its own stores, which were not part of the sale. Since the properties were developed, the retail giant has expanded into supercenter concepts in six of the locations, and has relocated or announced a future relocation of four stores to develop supercenters elsewhere in the market.
The seller, Malan Liquidating Trust, was formed in August 2004 to sell the remaining assets of Malan Realty Investors Inc., a former REIT. Since that time, the entity has sold 46 properties for about $200 million. The buyers were partners Christie Development Associates, LLC, a metro Kansas City-based private investment group, and Block and Co., a Kansas City, MO.-based real estate firm.
This news article taken from the Commercial Property News website