CTO Realty Buys Dallas Shopping Center

Plaza at Rockwall. Image courtesy of CommercialEdge

CTO Realty Growth has completed the $61.2 million acquisition of Plaza at Rockwall, a seven-building, 446,500-square-foot retail center located at 991 E. Interstate 30 in Rockwall, Texas. ShopCore Properties is the seller, according to CommercialEdge data.

The buyer purchased the property in a 1031 exchange with funds derived from a revolving credit line. Following the purchase, CTO Realty anticipates many tenants re-leasing their spaces, and intends to conduct repositioning projects across the property.

The purchase marks the second 1031 exchange between the buyer and seller. In October of 2022, CTO Realty purchased West Broad Village, a 392,000-square-foot grocery-anchored retail complex located in Glen Allen, Va.

A Dallas power center

Plaza at Rockwell was built over 42 acres in 2007, and was purchased by ShopCore in 2010, according to CommercialEdge information. At present, the property, a local power center, is anchored by Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, HomeGoods and Ulta Beauty, all of which have leases in excess of 10,000 square feet. The property’s largest tenant is a 103,639-square-foot space occupied by JCPenney. Gretchen Miller and Emilie Paulson, respectively senior vice president and vice president of Weitzman, manage leasing at the property.

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In addition to its retail space, Plaza at Rockwall also includes offerings from fitness, beauty and dining-focused clients. With direct access to Interstate 30, Plaza at Rockwall is within 5 miles of a population of 99,000 residents, and has direct highway access to downtown Dallas, 21 miles to the southwest.

Retail resiliency around Dallas

The Dallas-Fort Worth metro’s strong development pipeline, low vacancy rates and high net absorption mirror many of the retail sector’s successes throughout the nation, and have attracted sizeable investments. According to data from a first quarter 2023 report from Cushman & Wakefield, the Metroplex area has more than 1.5 million square feet of retail space under construction, a vacancy rate of 7.3 percent and north of 1 million square feet of positive net absorption. Dallas-Fort Worth’s retail strength is attributed in part to its rapid population growth, driven by corporate relocations, the growth of its industrial sector, lower taxes and relative affordability in comparison to other employment hubs in the Sun Belt.