TriGate Capital Purchases McCain Plaza for $23M, Plans Renovations

TriGate Capital LLC of Dallas has acquired McCain Plaza in North Little Rock for $23.15 million.

The real estate fund manager purchased the 290,000-SF shopping center through a subsidiary of TriGate Property Partners III LP.  The shopping center was sold by DDR Corp. of Beachwood, Ohio, who had owned McCain Plaza since acquiring it in 1994 from the developer, Folmar and Associates.

McCain Plaza is located at the intersection of Highways 67/167 and McCain Boulevard with access and visibility to more than 96,000 vehicles per day.

The property is 83 percent leased, according to Adam Aultz, vice president of TriGate Capital.  Tenancy includes Burlington Coat Factory, T.J. Maxx, Ross Dress for Less, Bed Bath & Beyond, PetSmart, Michaels and others.

The majority of the vacancy is in a former movie theater, which was vacated several years ago, Aultz said.

TriGate’s plans include renovating the facades, resurfacing the parking lot, upgrading signage and landscaping, refurbishing existing vacant tenant suites, and demolishing the vacant movie theater.

“The way it’s currently configured is not ideal for shop tenants or big box tenants it’s just old, it’s got sloped floors, so we’re going to demo it and create a new pad,” Aultz said.

They hope to attract a new retail tenant to occupy the former theater space, which will be 30,000 – 50,000 SF after the rebuild.

“I think there’s a void at this intersection for sporting goods so that would be good,” Aultz said.  “We’re also looking at some fashion and shoe tenants as well.”

Ideally, he said they would like to have one main anchor tenant located in the space, but there is also the possibility of splitting it into two or three smaller stores.

They have not selected an architect or construction company yet but hope to have that decision finalized sometime next week.  However, Aultz said they hope to begin work on McCain Plaza in the next month or two.

“We looked at a lot of retail center in the Little Rock area and this intersection is kind of the only vacancy in the submarket,” Aultz said.  “Given it’s been owned by the same group for a long time we just want to give new life to it and attract new tenants to the market – there’s already a great roster of tenants.”

Aultz would not disclose an exact amount but said they plan to “invest multi-millions” in the overhaul of the shopping center.

“I actually am from Little Rock and live in Dallas now, and I was very excited to do this,” Aultz said.  “The acquisition of McCain Plaza fits very well with TriGate’s strategy and we believe we will be able to add significant value by upgrading the property and hopefully bringing some new retailers to the submarket that will be synergistic to the already great tenant roster.”

Sage Partners, a private real estate company headquartered in Fayetteville with local offices in Little Rock, has been hired for third party leasing and management.