VOL. 126 | NO. 132 | Friday, July 8, 2011
Inked
Sarah Baker
Trinity Place Sells For Third Time In Five Years
By Sarah Baker
A Cordova retail center is under new ownership for the third time in five years. Atlanta-based Altus Real Estate Advisors LLC has purchased Trinity Place, 7990 Trinity Road, for $2.8 million.
The CB Richard Ellis Memphis Private Capital Group of Johnny Lamberson, Frank Quinn and Terry Radford represented the seller, Miami Beach, Fla.-based JPMCC 2006-LDP7 Trinity Place LLC.
In January 2009, the 47,923-square-foot neighborhood center sold for $4.3 million in foreclosure in a trustee’s deed to JPMCC 2006-LDP7 Trinity Place LLC. That entity bought the property from Harris P. Quinn serving as trustee.
The previous owner, Kapree Trinity LLC of Corona, Calif., defaulted on $6.5 million loan through LaSalle Bank NA dated March 15, 2006. The company had bought the center for $7.9 million from Crews Trinity Place LLC.
Current tenants of the center, which was 57 percent occupied at the time of closing, include McAlister’s Deli, State Farm Insurance and DaVita Dialysis. Trinity Place also offers about 20,000 square feet of office space, part of which is currently occupied by the Memphis Area Home Builders Association.
The lender-owned property was a favorable deal for both parties, Radford said.
“During the time that the lender held it, they secured the DaVita Dialysis and much of the current office tenancy – MAHBA, Leader Realty, to name a few – so they hit a few key deals and they were just ready at that point to dispose of the asset,” Radford said. “It will not remain at 60 percent occupancy now that it’s out of the lender’s hands. We have a buyer that’s willing to invest capital into the property.”
Built in 1998, the center sits on 4.62 acres at the northwest corner of Trinity Road and Germantown Parkway, facing Super Walmart to the south. It features traffic counts of about 63,000 vehicles per day and a population of 58,381 residents with a median household income of $71,043 in a three-mile radius, according to CBRE.
The Shelby County Assessor of Property’s 2011 appraisal of the Class A-investment grade center is $5 million.
Altus is a one-year-old, privately held company that specializes in buying distressed real estate. Richard Bell, Altus managing partner and southeast director, said Trinity Place fits perfectly into the firm’s acquisition strategy.
Altus seeks retail that is located in upper-end income areas of town, which allows more disposable income to attract a wider variety of tenants. Other key factors are above average traffic counts and signalized intersections.
“We try to buy properties that have historically done well, but have fallen on hard times, mainly due to owners having purchased them during a peak economic period,” Bell said. “We buy only properties from lenders. We buy them at steep discounts, generally 50 percent or less of what the prior person paid for it, which enables us to charge rents that are reasonable to low for the market. We know that if we buy with those criteria, we can correct them.”
Altus also provides a tenant improvement budget when it recapitalizes a property, Bell said, so tenants can make their space competitive. This enabled the firm to execute three leases during the closing process.
“I want more like Trinity Place – I don’t want to just own one in Memphis,” Bell said. “Naturally, we are going to like Germantown first. Second, we like either Collierville or Cordova. And third, we like Bartlett. Outside of those markets, we’re probably not going to invest.”
Altus will take over CBRE’s management and leasing of the property.
• In other deals, Napa Doors Inc. has signed a 27,000-square-foot lease at 4290 Delp St. in the Southeast industrial submarket. The tenant will use the distribution warehouse for its door frame wholesaling and manufacturing operations.
Hank Martin, vice president of NAI Saig Co., represented the landlord, RNB Interests LLC and BAK Interests LLC. There were no other brokers involved in the deal.
Martin said the property’s amenities and proximity to logistical operations were both attributes of the area.
“They liked the Airpark area, it’s close to U.S. Highway 78 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway facility, which they have products that come in off the rail and are then shipped to their facility,” he said.
The multi-tenant building has rail lines behind it, as well as 39,000 square feet of excess space that are both available for Napa Doors, should they need it, Martin added.
• Rafiq Devji has bought two service station properties from Circle K Stores Inc. for a total of $1.2 million.
The 3015 Lamar Ave. building totaled 2,600 square feet and sold for $500,000, and the 1351 Madison Ave. location totaled 3,000 square feet and sold for $675,000.
Edward Garey of Century 21 Maselle & Associates Inc. represented the seller in both sales. He said that the convenience food store business has been a good business in the bad times.
“Right now the convenience food store business is pretty good; as a matter of fact, it’s had two years of increases,” Garey said. “Now that’s not to say that the market price of a convenience food store hasn’t gone down because of the economy, but the profitability of the store has not gone down. In general, they’ve gone up about 4.5 percent.”