Shops at Wiregrass sells at a steep discount
By Ashley Gurbal Kritzer
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: May 25, 2023

Shops at Wiregrass, an open-air shopping center in Pasco County, has sold to Dallas real estate investors for $70.5 million.

TriGate Capital closed on the property on April 11, Pasco property records show. The firm said in an April LinkedIn post that it plans to make exterior improvements and has retained David Conn and Mark Hunter of CBRE Group Inc.'s Tampa office to market the property for lease.

Texas-based Independent Bank provided a $45.9 million loan for the acquisition, property records show.

The center is 760,379 square feet, according to marketing materials from CBRE; of that, 474,150 square feet are under the property's ownership. It has 88 specialty retailers, three anchors and 3,300 parking spaces. Department stores Dillard's and Macy's, the property's largest tenants at 147,767 and 138,796 square feet, respectively, own their real estate. The third largest tenant is Barnes & Noble, which occupies 34,865 square feet.

The center sold at 92% occupied and has completed 16 new leases since 2020. In addition to adding to the center’s growing roster of tenants, TriGate said it would work closely with the county and community to enhance the property and its calendar of events and programming.

“TriGate is thrilled to be a part of Wiregrass,” said Vice President of TriGate Capital Tom Andrews. “We are pleased to offer area residents an elevated retail experience and see tremendous potential ahead for this growing region."

The $70.5 million price tag is a significant discount compared to the more than $150 million it cost to build the mall in 2008.

Shops at Wiregrass has struggled since it opened in one of the worst consumer spending environments in U.S. history. Subcontractors placed construction liens on the property totaling $1.4 million shortly after the shopping center opened. In 2017, it was part of a portfolio of malls sold to Australia-based QIC.

In 2020, as the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered brick-and-mortar stores, the property was moved to a watchlist of potentially troubled loans.