FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., Aug. 28, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT) (the "Company") today announced that it has acquired Deer Grove Centre in Palatine, Illinois, a densely-populated, affluent submarket of Chicago, for $20 million in cash. The 236,000 square foot multi-anchored shopping center is tenanted by Petco, Dress Barn, Staples, a Dominick's supermarket, and is shadow anchored by Target. TJ Maxx/Home Goods will open a new 50,000 square foot store at the shopping center in the fall of 2013. The Company will be implementing a major retenanting plan for the 81% leased property and is in negotiations with a number of national retailers to strengthen the center's tenant mix and increase occupancy.
The acquisition of Deer Grove Centre dovetails with the Company's recent purchase of Mount Prospect Plaza in Mount Prospect, Illinois. The two shopping centers are approximately eight miles apart and will allow the Company to leverage national and regional retailers' desire to be in both locations to strategically meet their expansion plans while effectively capturing the buying power of the entire market.
"Deer Grove is a solid, value-add acquisition that supports our strategy of purchasing high-quality properties that we can immediately improve by executing leases to fill existing vacancies and by retenanting spaces occupied by underperforming uses," said Dennis Gershenson, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Our current acquisition philosophy of acquiring market-dominant centers with a superior demographic profile that have upside potential will supplement long-term growth in net operating income."
Deer Grove Centre is strategically located on Dundee Road at the Rand Road/Route 12 interchange approximately 35 miles northwest of Chicago. The shopping center is part of a solid trade area with an average five-mile household income of $102,000 and a population of 250,000. The three-mile area surrounding the center has an average household income of $93,000 and a population of 97,000.
About Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust
Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust (NYSE:RPT) is a fully integrated, self-administered, publicly-traded real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Farmington Hills, Michigan. The Company's business is the ownership and management of multi-anchor shopping centers in strategic metropolitan markets throughout the Eastern, Midwestern and Central United States. At June 30, 2013, the Company owned and managed a portfolio of 79 shopping centers and one office building with approximately 15.2 million square feet of gross leasable area owned by the Company or its joint ventures. The properties are located in Michigan, Florida, Ohio, Georgia, Missouri, Colorado, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland, and Tennessee. At June 30, 2013, the Company's core operating portfolio was 95.1% leased. For additional information regarding Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust visit the Company's website.
This press release may contain forward-looking statements that represent the Company's expectations and projections for the future. Management of Ramco-Gershenson believes the expectations reflected in any forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on reasonable assumptions. Certain factors could occur that might cause actual results to vary, including deterioration in national economic conditions, weakening of real estate markets, decreases in the availability of credit, increases in interest rates, adverse changes in the retail industry, our continuing ability to qualify as a REIT and other factors discussed in the Company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.