Phillips Edison, ARC REIT buys two Gulf Coast centers, 13 others

BUYER: Goolsby Pointe Station LLC (Edison Phillips), Cincinnati
SELLER: Mept Goolsby Point LLC
PROPERTY: 11539-11709 Boyette Road, Riverview
PRICE: $10.85 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $8.71 million, May 2011

BUYER: Wesley Chapel Station LLC (Edison Phillips), Cincinnati
SELLER: Mept Towne Centre Wesley
PROPERTY: 27327-27424 Wesley Chapel Blvd., Wesley Chapel
PRICE: $9 million
PREVIOUS PRICE: $9.24 million, May 2011
LAW FIRM ON DEED: Honigman Miller Schwartz and Cohn LLP, Bloomfield Hills, Mich.

PLANS, DESCRIPTION:
A real estate investment trust connected to Cincinnati-based retail development firm Phillips Edison & Co. acquired two Gulf Coast shopping centers as part of a recent 15-center expansion.

Phillips Edison-ARC Shopping Center REIT Inc. purchased the 75,405-square-foot Goolsby Pointe in Riverview and the 69,232-square-foot Towne Centre at Wesley Chapel from affiliates of NewTower Trust Co. of Bethesda, Md., for a combined $19.85 million.

The price equated to $137 per square foot. 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.

Goolsby Pointe is anchored by Publix and Towne Centre at Wesley Chapel is anchored by Sweetbay.

The centers were purchased along with 13 others in eight states since Jan. 1. Those states include Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

The total purchase price for all the acquisitions was $261 million, according to the firm. The acquisitions also marked the REIT's first properties anchored by a Sweetbay.

“We are very pleased to acquire these grocery-anchored shopping centers, as they further diversify our portfolio by geography, grocery anchor, industry, lease expirations and credit,” Phillips Edison-ARC Chairman and CEO Jeff Edison says in a press release. “Our acquisitions velocity continues to grow as our acquisitions team harvests opportunities in our pipeline.”

Phillips Edison-ARC Shopping Center REIT's portfolio now consists of interests in 98 shopping centers anchored by 31 grocers in 23 states. It added 1.6 million square feet of retail space to its portfolio through the latest acquisitions.

Phillips Edison-ARC Shopping Center REIT Inc. is a co-sponsored arm of Phillips Edison and AR Capital LLC, an investment management firm.