FEATURED – St. Louis Business Journal

St. Louis Business Journal Article

One of last year’s biggest dealmakers scoops up more retail with $21M buy

Oct 17, 2019, 5:30am CDT

Cincinnati-based Select Strategies has acquired Ballwin Plaza for $20.9 million.

The 204,859-square-foot regional shopping center is anchored by Schnucks, Hobby Lobby, Marshalls and Buffalo Wild Wings at 15425 Manchester Road. Ballwin Plaza is 93% occupied and has a weighted average lease term of 11 years, according to Pace Properties, whose Scott Seyfried represented the seller, Ohio-based Viking Partners, along with Joe Girardi of Mid-America Real Estate Corp.

Viking Partners acquired the center in 2014 for $10.6 million, according to St. Louis County records.

Select Strategies is a privately held real estate investment company that specializes in the development, acquisition, management and leasing of retail and mixed-use property in the Midwest and Southeast.

It had one of the largest commercial real estate deals in St. Louis last year when it acquired seven properties from Kimco Realty for $78.4 million. Select Strategies now owns more than 1.3 million square feet of retail property in the region.

West St. Louis County had a vacancy rate of 5.8% and average lease rate of $16.60 per square foot in the third quarter of 2019, according to research from Gershman Commercial Real Estate.

“The market is very strong. St. Louis is still seen as an opportunistic buy because of more yield,” Pace’s Seyfried said.

Looking ahead, Seyfried said active buyers in the St. Louis market are likely to remain that way in 2020.