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Out-of-state firm buys Worthington shopping center for nearly $20M


January 21, 2020

From the Columbus Business First

A Worthington shopping center has a new owner.

The Shops at Worthington Place, which sits along High Street just south of the I-270 interchange, sold for $19.8 million in a deal that closed Dec. 18, according to the

Franklin County Auditor. Dallas, Texas-based Direct Retail Partners was the buyer on the 139,283-square-foot retail center. The property is 92% leased, and has a mix of national and regional tenants including Talbots, Panera, Orvis, Kenneth’s Hair Salon, First Watch, Aladdin’s Eatery and Lume Family Eyecare. Colliers International has managed leasing at the shopping strip. The 15-acre shopping center at 7227 N. High St. is in the middle of a larger mixed-use area south of the interchange that also includes a Kroger, a 190-unit apartment community and some out-lots of banks and restaurants that aren’t a part of the deal. 

Direct Retail Partners financed the project with a three-year floating-rate loan provided by Bayview Asset Management, according to a news release. Mark Brandenburg and Tim Jordan of JLL Capital Markets debt placement team managed the transaction. Columbus-based Real Estate Development Advisors and Fort Worth, Texas-based Morris-Floyd Capital Partners teamed up to buy the struggling mall in 2010, when it was 40% occupied, and subsequently completed a substantial renovation, bringing their total investment in the property to about $17 million. 

Direct Retail Partners is primarily an investor in the southwestern United States, and has constructed 3.5 million square feet of shopping center space. It also has leasing and merchandising and property management services under its wing. According to JLL, 228,000 vehicles per day pass by the Shops at Worthington Place on the highway, while 94,000 residents within 3 miles of the center have an average annual household income of $97,065. The center is also directly across the street from the Worthington Gateway redevelopment project.

Read the original article here.