Inland Real Estate Acquisitions has negotiated and closed on the purchase of a portfolio of nine Kroger-anchored shopping centers for about $79.9 million in a joint venture including one of the Inland real estate investment trusts.
Inland purchased the stores and adjacent retail centers from Kroger, one of the nation’s top two grocery chains. Kroger had owned all the shopping centers, located in Tennessee, Indiana, Georgia, Indiana, Illinois, Texas, Virginia and Michigan, collectively totaling almost 810,000 square feet.
Kroger has signed long-term, 15-year leases to continue its operations in each of the nine Kroger grocery stores.
The deal is a hybrid of a sale-leaseback and an outright sale of grocery-anchored retail centers. For Inland, it represents nine new leases with a credit tenant and the chance to lease retail space anchored by a store that is a reliable traffic draw, according to Joe Cosenza, president of Inland.
Companies sponsored by affiliates of the Inland Real Estate Group rank collectively as the fifth-largest shopping center owner in North America. With the purchase of this property, Inland-sponsored companies have completed more than 210 individual property closings for a total of more than $4.4 billion in 2005.
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