June 13, 2011 - Phillips Edison-ARC Shopping Center REIT Inc., a publicly registered, non-traded REIT focused on grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers, today announced it has acquired St. Charles Plaza, a 65,000-square-foot shopping center located in Haines City, Florida, for approximately $10.1 million. The shopping center is anchored by Publix Supermarket, which occupies 45,600 square feet on a long-term lease through October 2027. Other tenants include Verizon Wireless, Crispers, Publix Liquor and Hair Cuttery.
St. Charles Plaza was constructed in 2007 and is located in the Lakeland metropolitan statistical area between Tampa and Orlando. The shopping center is situated at the well-trafficked intersection of Holly Hill Road and US Route 27 in a densely populated area that has experienced over five percent annualized population growth during the last 10 years. Presently, St. Charles Plaza is 98.2 percent occupied with minimal projected tenant turnover expected within the next five years. The Company was able to successfully acquire this property on favorable terms through a bankruptcy auction.
“We are pleased to acquire St. Charles Plaza,” said Mark Addy, Chief Operating Officer for Phillips Edison-ARC Shopping Center REIT Inc. “This acquisition is consistent with our business strategy to acquire grocery-anchored shopping centers located in infill and growing markets. We believe this purchase delivers the key elements of our business plan: a stable and growing income stream anchored by the area’s dominant grocer and located in a highly trafficked area. And because we were able to buy this asset for what we believe is a great price and finance it using debt with attractive terms, this transaction will be accretive to shareholder value.”
Publix is the dominant grocer in the geographic area maintaining a 40.2 percent market share, with the St. Charles Plaza location experiencing strong sales growth over the last three years. The shopping center provides a stable rental stream with 75.6 percent of the gross rents coming from Publix and other national and regional retailers.
Linda Fatherree