Inland Buys Nine Kroger Shopping Centers In Hybrid Sale-Leaseback

CINCINNATI -- Inland Real Estate Acquisitions Inc. has purchased nine properties of the Kroger Co. here, including sites in Memphis and Jackson, Tenn., for $79.9 million.

The Oak Brook, Ill.-based Inland bought the grocery-anchored properties in a sale-leaseback deal, by which Inland Real Estate Acquisitions took ownership of the centers and then leased the grocery space back to Kroger, which signed 15-year leases on each of the properties and retained the right to add fuel stations at some. The combined properties represent 809,954-square-feet of retail space.

"This is an unusual sort of sale/sale-leaseback, and a unique bit of real estate magic," Joe Cosenza, president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc., said in a statement. "For Inland, it represents nine new leases with a credit tenant -- and the chance to lease retail space anchored by one of the nation's most reliable draws of retail traffic. Kroger, meanwhile, gets immediate capital from the value of its retail real estate while focusing on running its industry-leading grocery operations."