VOL. 127 | NO. 112 | Friday, June 8, 2012
Inked
Sarah Baker
Fla. Company Buys Cordova Retail Center
By Sarah Baker
Coral Springs, Fla.-based Swiss Capital Group LLC has acquired The Shops of Woodland Hills in Cordova for $3.1 million.
The 20,400-square-foot strip shopping center is at 1105 N. Houston Levee Road, just south of the intersection of Macon and Houston Levee roads.
The warranty deed lists the seller as Tennessee-based The Shops of Woodland Hills LLC and is signed by chief manager Jim D. Ethridge.
Swiss Capital Group also filed a $2.1 million mortgage with BankTennessee at 1105 N. Houston Levee in conjunction with the purchase.
Built in 2004, the Class A retail center is situated on 2.4 acres and is appraised at $2.4 million, according to the Shelby County Assessor of Property.
• In other commercial leasing news, Raymond Vallier has purchased the 20,522-square-foot freestanding retail building at 520 Goodman Road in Southaven for $610,000.
Colliers International’s industrial team of Andy Cates and Preston Thomas brokered the transaction.
The property sits on 2.15 acres and was formerly occupied by Olympic Fitness Facility. Thomas said Vallier plans to turn the space into a hospice.
Vallier also purchased the 1,610-square-foot facility at 2748 Emerald St. from First Tennessee Bank NA for $61,000. Built in 1968, the Class C office building’s 2012 appraisal is $95,000.
Cates and Thomas handled the sale. Vallier will convert the space in Hickory Hill North to a car detailing business.
And Professional Medical Transport Inc. has renewed its 8,750-square-foot lease for five years at 835 Virginia Run Cove. Pro-Med is a Knoxville-based ambulance company.
Cates and Thomas handled the deal for landlord TI Properties LLC.
• And New York-based DRA Advisors LLC has closed on two Memphis warehouse properties for $12.3 million, as part of a larger portfolio purchase from Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors.
DRA Advisors acquired Southpoint I at 4715 Shelby Drive and Southpoint II at 4655 Shelby Drive under the entity G And I VII Southpoint I And II LLC from Weingarten, which used the entity WNI Tennessee LP, according to the Shelby County Register of Deeds.
Weingarten announced in April its plans to sell its wholly owned industrial portfolio to DRA Advisors for $382.4 million in efforts to strengthen its focus as a pure retail Real Estate Investment Trust. The portfolio is made up of 52 industrial properties, totaling 9.6 million square feet in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Prior to the sale, Weingarten Realty owned eight Memphis industrial buildings, all of which were leased by Brad Murchison of CB Richard Ellis Memphis but sub-managed by another company. Upon DRA’s acquisition of Southpoint I & II, CBRE will assume both leasing and property management for DRA.
Murchison said both buildings have been 100 percent leased for a couple of years.
“From the leasing standpoint, we have no immediate plans,” he said. “On the management side, just transitioning the full management scope over to CBRE, talking with all of the vendors, talking with all of the tenants and just keeping the properties functioning at a high level.”
Southpoint I & II were the only two properties sold by Weingarten. The other six are owned by Weingarten in a partnership and will continue to be leased by CBRE.
DRA Advisors specializes in real estate investment management services for institutional and private investors, including pension funds, university endowments, foundations and insurance companies.
The firm in Memphis owns two office properties – Germantown Center and Mid-Memphis Tower – as well as four multifamily assets – Addison at Collierville, Bailey Creek, Madison at Schilling Farms and Preserve at Southwind.
An affiliate of DRA also recently partnered with Memphis-based Poag Lifestyle Centers on the $55 million purchase of The Avenue in Collierville.