Inland Real Estate Buys Westgate Shopping Center

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Inland Real Estate Corp. recently acquired the Westgate Shopping Center, a grocery-anchored power center in Fairview Park, paying $73.4 million for the property.

Westgate is located at the intersection of West 210 Street and Center Ridge Road on the border of Fairview Park and Rocky River. The original Westgate mall opened in 1954. It was recently redeveloped into an outdoor shopping center, dropping the word ”mall” from the name. The center features approximately 474,000 square feet of gross leasable area.

Westgate is 94 percent occupied, anchored by such retailers as Kohl’s (94,500 square feet), Lowe’s (119,700 square feet), Earth Fare, Marshall’s, Petco, Target and Ulta.  Buffalo Wild Wings, Chick-Fil-A, Five Guys Burgers, Famous Footwear, Five Below, The Original Pancake House, Books-A-Million, Kay Jewelers and Justice are just some of the other tenants. Inland simultaneously secured a 10-year interest-only mortgage loan of $40.4 million on the property, at a fixed rate of 4.9 percent.

“The purchase of these properties is in line with our plan to acquire multiple assets in targeted Midwest markets as a way to facilitate operational and leasing efficiencies.” said Scott Carr, executive vice president & chief investment officer, in a  press release. “Supported by attractive demographics, these properties are the dominant retail centers in their respective trade areas, acquired at prices that deliver strong returns.”

Inland is a self-managed, publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Oak Brook, Ill. It acquires, owns and manages neighborhood, community, power and lifestyle retail centers and single-tenant properties primarily in the Midwestern United States. As of Dec. 31,2011, the company owns interests in and manages 146 properties, with approximately 14 million square feet of real estate totaling nearly $1.8 billion in asset acquisition value.

Photo courtesy of Westgate Facebook Page.