Baltimore, MD (December 20, 2007) - Alex. Brown Realty, Inc. (ABR), a national real estate investment company, has entered into a joint venture with Trinity Property Group, LLC (Trinity) to acquire the Collins Road Square retail center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  ABR Chesapeake Fund III, a value-added real estate investment fund sponsored by ABR, provided an equity commitment of $3.79 million to the venture.  Equity capital was arranged by Robert Kincheloe, managing director of Cohen Financial’s San Francisco office.

Collins Road Square is a 168,563 square foot retail center constructed in the mid-1980s by the seller.  Located across the street from the Lindale Mall, the region’s largest retail center, it is well located within eastern Iowa’s dominant retail hub.

The center’s existing tenants reflect a mix of national, regional, and local retailers. Current occupancy is approximately 68% and less than 9% of the center’s square footage is expected to turn over before 2009. “This creates an attractive investment opportunity from our vantage point --enough vacancy to create value yet a tenant base stable enough to mitigate risk,” commented Don Brenneman, ABR’s acquisition officer responsible for sourcing the deal. 

ABR and Trinity plan to add value to the center by implementing key capital improvements to the façade, sidewalks, and parking lot, and marketing the center to national and regional retailers that have yet to establish a presence in the Cedar Rapids/eastern Iowa region.

This is the first joint venture between ABR and Trinity. Collins Road Square also represents ABR’s first investment in Iowa.  “We are pleased with the additional exposure to retail and geographic diversification Collins Road Square brings to our portfolio,” commented John Prugh, ABR’s president and CEO.  “We are impressed by Cedar Rapids’ demographic profile – the area shows solid population and job growth and an increasingly diversified economy.  We look forward to working with Trinity to maximize the center’s potential.”

Alex. Brown Realty, Inc. (ABR) is a privately owned real estate investment manager organized in 1972 and headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.   ABR co-invests with joint venture partners in a broad spectrum of property types located throughout the United States.  www.abrealty.com

Trinity Property Group, LLC (Trinity) is a San Francisco-based private real estate investment firm focused on repositioning smaller to mid-sized commercial properties throughout the Midwest and Southeast. www.trinitypg.com