Rainier buys Woodlands Square for $64 million

A Dallas-based retail center investor has acquired the recently renovated Woodlands Square Shopping Center in Oldsmar for $64 million, Pinellas County records show.

Rainier Realty Investments’ purchase of the 315,000-square-foot retail center from Ram Realty Advisors comes roughly a year after a thorough renovation of the center, which was originally completed in 1987.

As part of the renovation, Ram upgraded lighting, signage, parking, exterior facades and added a new roof. The AMC Theater received a $7 million upgrade that added new seating, screens and improvements to the lobby.

Rainier Woodlands Square Acquisitions LLC acquired the 28-acre property, at 3150 Tampa Road, in Oldsmar, together with institutional investor CIL2 REIT LLC, which, in turn, receives financial support from South African real estate investment trust Emira Property Fund.

Woodlands Square becomes its fifth acquisition over the past 18 months, according to Rainier Realty’s website. Some of its other retail center purchases are in Cincinnati; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Noblesville, Ind., the website states.

Rainier and CIL2 last teamed up in April to buy the Stoney Creek Marketplace, in Indiana.

Rainier and CIL2, which is managed by Continuum Investments, say they target “high-quality, market dominant, grocery-anchored retail properties throughout the Central and Southern United States,” the company’s website says.

“The tenant mix includes grocery, apparel, specialty retailers, entertainment and multiple dining options in a highly accessible location within the Tampa (metropolitan statistical area) making it an excellent addition to our growing 2.5 million-square-foot retail portfolio,” Rainer President Tim Nichols says, in a statement.

Woodlands Square is occupied by Earth Fare, Bealls, an AMC 20 movie theater, PetSmart, Marshall’s, Dollar Tree and Ulta Cosmetics, among others.

The center was 96% committed at the time of the sale to Rainier, the company says, and received a more than $10 million renovation in 2017.

Founded in 2003, Rainier today manages more than $1 billion of investment assets.