Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust buys Tampa Festival Centre

BUYER: WHLR — Tampa Festival LLC, Virginia Beach, Va.
SELLER: CRP II — Tampa Festival LLC
PROPERTY: 2525 and 2601 E. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa

PRICE: $11.85 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $6.63 million, February 2009
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Englander Fischer LLP, St. Petersburg

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust purchased the 141,628-square-foot Tampa Festival Centre grocery-anchored shopping plaza for $11.85 million.

The price equated to $84 per square feet. That figure is lower than the two-year average price per square foot for retail space ($146) in the Tampa Bay area, according to the CoStar Group.

Located in northeast Tampa just east of Interstate 275, the center was renovated in 2009 and expanded with a new building in 2012. Anchored by Winn-Dixie, the retail center also houses Family Dollar, Rainbow, Citi Trends and Rent-A-Center. It was 95.6% occupied at the time of the sale.

No changes are planned for the center, according to Wesley Forehand, an analyst with Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust.

“This was a good stable asset with attractive anchors,” he says. “We're familiar with the market and comfortable with the area.”

An HFF team, led by Luis Castillo and Danny Finkle, marketed the property on behalf of the seller, Forge Capital Partners.

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust specializes in buying and managing shopping centers and freestanding and triple-net retail properties.

Purchase entity WHLR — Tampa Festival LLC mortgaged the property to Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC for $8.89 million.