Inland Real Estate Income Trust Inc. has bought Midtowne Shopping Center in Little Rock for about $41.5 million in cash, the Illinois company said Tuesday.

The purchase has expanded the trust's portfolio, which includes the Park Avenue shopping center, according to a news release.

The company bought a section of the Park Avenue shopping center in February for about $28.1 million, according to a company spokesman. The Target store, LA Fitness facility, and the Park Avenue Lofts in the center were not part of the deal.

Strode Properties Co. spent about $35 million to purchase the land and build the shopping center, which opened in 2006. Strode sold the center in September 2011 to Miller Capital Advisory, one of the owners of Institutional Mall Investors of Skokie, Ill., along with the California Public Employees' Retirement System.

The Midtowne Shopping Center, which has 126,288-square-feet of retail space, is at the corner of University Avenue and Markham Street. Park Avenue is across the street at the former University Mall location.

"[Midtowne] Shopping Center complements the necessity-based offering of the Park Avenue Shopping Center by catering to a variety of local consumers from two nearby university campuses, a major area hospital and downtown Little Rock," the news release said.

"We expect the close proximity of the two shopping centers will create cost synergies for our Property Managers," the trust said in a public filing.

Inland Real Estate Income Trust purchased the Midtowne shopping center from IMI MRLR LLC. and IMI MTLR II LLC, according to the filing.

The acquisition was made through IREIT Business Manager and Advisor Inc., a subsidiary of Inland Real Estate Investment Corp.

The shopping center is 95.6 percent occupied with 22 tenants, according to the news release. The center's tenants include The Container Store, Pottery Barn and Ulta.

The site was cleared of homes in 2004 to prepare for the center but development was slow and the empty lots became a dumping ground.

Completion of the shopping center was slowed in 2005 when utility and construction crews were sent to help with recovery along the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina.

The Inland Real Estate Income Trust, which owns 16 properties, was formed to acquire a portfolio of commercial real estate and is focused on purchasing multitenant retail assets, according to the news release. The company is sponsored by Inland Real Estate Investment Corp.

Business on 05/21/2014