Dallas’ Lincoln Property makes major investment in hometown shopping center firm

Two Dallas commercial real estate firms are teaming up.

Lincoln Property Company announced Tuesday a strategic investment in Dallas-based Centennial, a national retail real estate owner and operator.

The parties did not disclose the terms of the transaction or the value of the investment.

Lincoln provided an unspecified dollar amount of investment capital to allow Centennial to grow its portfolio. Lincoln also made a significant investment in Centennial’s operating company, said Steven Levin, Centennial’s founder and CEO.

The partnership gives both companies advantages. Centennial gets capital and resources for national expansion while Lincoln is presented with new opportunities for mixed-use development projects.

“We are interested in doing a lot more investment in amazing leadership and amazing organizations that broaden our capability set, either from an investment and/or a service perspective. And Centennial just fits that perfectly,” said David Binswanger, Lincoln’s co-CEO. “(Lincoln) really has never been in the large format, mixed-use retail business.”

Centennial operates more than 23 million square feet of retail and mixed-use properties in 18 states and experience as a mall operator. Lincoln, one of the largest diversified real estate services companies with offices across the U.S., U.K. and Europe, will lend its expertise in office, apartment, hotel and other real estate products.

The partnership will focus on developing and investing in community-centric projects. They’ll evaluate opportunities to acquire underperforming real estate. The companies have collaborated on several joint ventures over the last decade, they said.

“Enclosed malls or large open-air malls … are overbuilt today,” Levin said. “The best projects in America, in our opinion, are projects that are mixed-use — very dominant retail, but bring together an environment of residential, of working and of complementary uses. … Lincoln, as a leading developer of complementary uses, is the other part of the equation that really creates those great projects.”

Lincoln’s investment is the latest step in its focus on the retail segment. The firm has a joint venture with California-based retail investment firm Paragon Commercial Group.

This new move comes after Lincoln received a major investment from Connecticut-based Stone Point Capital LLC last year.

Neither Dallas firm provided details about potential projects they may be eyeing together in North Texas.

Earlier this year, Lincoln closed on four acres on Cedar Springs Road between Fairmount and Routh Streets south of Turtle Creek for a Class A mixed-use development.

Lincoln is planning for 400,000-500,000 square feet of office space, about 250 luxury apartments, a 200-key five-star hotel and residence and 25,000 square feet of food and beverage retail at the site. A timeline for the development hasn’t been finalized.