Whitestone Expands Portfolio With the Acquisition of 5000 South Hulen

Whitestone REIT WSR recently announced the acquisition of 5000 South Hulen, a shopping center spanning 86,907 square feet of space in Fort Worth, TX. The move comes as part of the company’s growth strategy to bolster its portfolio in a thriving and fundamentally strong region of Texas.

5000 South Hulen is located in one of Fort Worth’s strongest performing retail corridors and close to Interstate 20 and two of the most affluent neighborhoods in the entire trade area —Chisholm Trail Parkway and Mira Vista. This shopping center marks the 29th addition to Whitestone’s portfolio of assets in Texas and the 10^th in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.

Situated between two heavily traveled thoroughfares, I-20 and Hulen Street, which collectively attract more than 182,000 vehicles per day, and adjacent to Hulen Mall, 5000 South Hulen gains from high volumes.

The center offers unique advantages, serving an affluent population exceeding 300,000 with an average household income of $113,520, resulting in a collective spending power of approximately $14 billion. The presence of national and regional businesses, including Sephora, Old Navy, Barnes & Noble, Potbelly, Sports Clips, Kincaid’s Hamburgers and Jamba Juice, aids further synergistic gains.

Per Christine Mastandrea, president and COO of Whitestone REIT, “We will leverage our deep relationships and market knowledge to unlock the full potential of the asset and look to remerchandise where possible to ensure the center is adequately serving the long-term needs of the community.”

WSR: In a Nutshell

Whitestone REIT is a fully integrated real estate investment trust that acquires, owns, manages, develops and redevelops open-air convenience-focused retail centers with a mix of service-oriented tenants. Whitestone's properties are principally located in Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, TX, and Phoenix, AZ.

The acquisition of 5000 South Hulen will tighten WSR’s foothold in one of the strongest-performing retail corridors. The upcoming development, with strong neighborhood dynamics, is also likely to drive strong footfall.

However, the market is witnessing a shift in retail shopping from brick-and-mortar stores to Internet sales. This is expected to adversely impact the market share for brick-and-mortar stores like WSR. Moreover, market uncertainties arising from policy shifts, economic volatility and anticipations of high inflation remain major concerns.

Over the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company have declined 14.2%, underperforming the industry's fall of 1.2%.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are VICI Properties VICI and W.P. Carey WPC, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for VICI Properties’ 2025 FFO per share has been raised marginally over the past two months to $2.34.

The consensus estimate for W.P. Carey’s current-year FFO per share has moved northward 1.2% in the past two months to $4.88.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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