RioCan Trust, Bianco Properties Acquire Dallas-Area Shopping Centers

By Georgiana Mihaila, Associate Editor

After partnering with Inland Western in order to buy Houston property Sawyer Heights Village, Toronto-based RioCan Real Estate Investment Trust is now eyeing the Dallas area. The companies acquired Arlington’s Lincoln Square shopping center, the 444,500-square-foot retail complex at Interstate 30 and North Collins Boulevard.

Presumably one of the largest retail transactions of the year for the North Texas area, Lincoln Square traded for $70.7 million, including a $42.4 million loan secured at an interest rate of 5.05 percent; RioCan teamed with Dunhil Partners—co-owner with 18 percent of the retail center—which will be in charge of managing the property.

Set in close proximity to the Cowboys Stadium, the 444,500-square-foot Lincoln Square is currently anchored by Ross Dress for Less, Best Buy, PetSmart and Bed, Bath & Beyond and also includes other national fashion retailers, such as Stein Smart, Gap, Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant. The shopping center was built in 1982 by Lincoln Property Co. and is one of the largest in Arlington.

Bianco Properties has also purchased two Dallas-area shopping centers–the St. Louis-based investor already owns Midway Commons and Village by the Parks I and II–bringing its Dallas portfolio to five shopping centers. The Frankford Pavilion is a three-building property set at 5420 Frankford Road, close to the Dallas Tollway; encompassing 49,000 square feet of retail space, it lists among its tenants a Blue Fish Japanese Restaurant, a Fish City, Jason’s Deli and Fed-Ex Kinko’s. The second property is the Coppell Retail Center at 130 N. Denton Tap Road, a 15,000-square-foot shopping center built in 2002. The Coppell Retail Center is home to J. Macklin’s Grill, Coppell Taekwondo, Great Clips and Marble Slab Creamery, and was bought from Browning Property Co. The financial terms of the two recent transactions have not been disclosed.