Inland REIT Weighs Future, Could Sell Retail-Focused Firm

Inland Real Estate Income Trust, which owns over 7 million square feet of shopping centers in the U.S., could be looking for a buyer, depending on the outcome of a strategic review.

The non-traded REIT’s board of directors is reviewing strategic alternatives, including the sale of the company, Bisnow reported.

The Oak Brook-based firm holds 52 shopping centers in 24 states worth $1.4 billion. It focuses on acquiring grocery-anchored properties, and it is lowering its exposure to big box retailers.

The consideration of the company’s future comes of the heels of Daniel Goodwin, its co-founder and board chairman, dying in January at age 80, as well as the January retirement of the REIT’s previous president and CEO Mitchell Sabshon.

The firm restructured its board and executive team and plans to work with a financial adviser to assist in the strategic review, according to a regulatory filing. The review could result in three possible outcomes: a complete sale, a public stock listing or no transaction at all.

“There can be no assurance that the strategic review will result in a transaction,” Inland stated in a news release. “The Company does not intend to discuss or disclose developments with respect to the process unless and until otherwise determined that further disclosure is appropriate or required.”

The company informed stockholders that it is suspending distributions and share repurchases during the evaluation.

Shopping centers are becoming a coveted asset class across the country. The Ohio-based retail REIT Site Centers recently sold the Woodfield Village Green shopping center in Schaumburg for $93.2 million, or $221 per square foot, the highest-priced retail property sale since the flagship Neiman Marcus store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile changed hands for $94 million two years ago.

— Andrew Terrell