DLC Management Acquires Missouri Shopping Center for $32M

TARRYTOWN, NY-In a deal that marks the firm’s entrance into the St. Louis area marketplace, DLC Management Corp. has purchased the Olde Towne Plaza shopping center in Ballwin, Mo. for $32.3 million, GlobeSt.com has learned.

The Tarrytown, N.Y.-based firm closed on the deal on Monday, Dec. 9, according to DLC Management Senior Vice President Daniel M. Taub. John May of May Center Advisors of Oakbrook, IL represented the seller, Regency Centers of Jacksonville, Fla. Taub represented DLC Management. Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group in New York City placed the $25.3-million mortgage with J.P. Mortgage Capital, according to DLC Management officials.

The Olde Town Plaza development is a relatively new strip regional power center totaling 288,000 sf. Construction on the project was started in 2001 and completed in early 2002. The complex’s major tenants are Lowe’s Home Improvement, which occupies a 135,000-sf store; Marshalls, which has a 30,000-sf space; Home Goods, a division of TJX, the parent of the Marshalls chain, which has approximately 25,000 sf of leased space; Ultimate Electronics, which occupies 35,000 sf; and Stein Mart which has a 31,000-sf location at the site.

The center is currently 98% occupied and has approximately 5,400 sf of non-contiguous space available.

“This deal follows our current philosophy of the last 18 to 24 months to buy better quality, more stable assets in markets that have strong demographics,” Taub says. He added that DLC has acquired approximately one million sf of retail space of late in the Midwest.

Company officials say that few assets of the caliber of Olde Towne Plaza become available for purchase. They pointed to the development’s strong tenant base and its prime location in Ballwin, one of St. Louis most desirable suburbs, as some of the features that drew them to the deal.

In fact, he revealed that DLC has entered into contract to acquire a 250,000-sf shopping center over the state line in Illinois that is about an hour from the Olde Town Plaza property. He would not reveal the location or name of the project under contract.

In 2001, DLC acquired approximately 2.6 million sf of retail space in the United States. Including the Olde Towne Plaza transaction, DLC Management has purchased nine properties so far in 2002 totaling 1.25 million sf. The company has more than 6.5 million sf in its portfolio in 19 states.