PlaceMKR Acquires Five-Property At Home Retail Portfolio for $31.85 Million in First Out-of-State Expansion

PlaceMKR has acquired a five-property, multi-state retail portfolio anchored by At Home home décor stores for $31.85 million, the firm announced Sept. 22. The transaction marks the Austin-based real estate investment and development firm's first expansion beyond Texas and represents approximately $59 per square foot across the 535,872-square-foot portfolio.

LCN Capital Partners sold the portfolio. Bryn Feller and Josh Dicker of NorthMarq's Chicago Investment Sales team represented the seller.

Portfolio Overview and Property Details

The five single-tenant properties span more than 46 acres across Texas, Mississippi and Ohio, each operating under long-term triple-net leases with contractual rent growth. Three of the assets are located in Texas markets where PlaceMKR has operated since 2018; the remaining two — in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Toledo, Ohio — represent the firm's first holdings outside its home state.

The individual properties are:

• 1600 W. Kelly Ave., Pharr, Texas — 107,394 square feet, located in the Rio Grande Valley near a major international trade corridor in the greater McAllen market.
• 642 S. Walnut Ave., New Braunfels, Texas — 90,268 square feet, positioned along the I-35 corridor between San Antonio and Austin in one of Texas's fastest-growing communities.
• 2650 W. Interstate 20, Grand Prairie, Texas — 109,794 square feet, situated in the Dallas-Fort Worth market with access to a large consumer base and employment hub.
• 15065 Creosote Road, Gulfport, Mississippi — 115,345 square feet, on Mississippi's Gulf Coast with Interstate 10 connectivity and demand supported by tourism, maritime commerce and military activity.
• 2244 S. Reynolds Road, Toledo, Ohio — 113,071 square feet, serving the Toledo market with access to major Great Lakes transportation routes and a large regional workforce.

At Home's Post-Bankruptcy Profile

At Home, a Dallas-area home furnishings retailer operating large-format stores carrying furniture, décor, housewares, lighting, rugs and seasonal goods, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2025 and emerged from restructuring in October 2025. The reorganization eliminated nearly all of the company's approximately $2 billion in funded debt, and the retailer secured $500 million in new exit financing and transitioned to new ownership. At Home currently operates 229 stores across 39 states.

PlaceMKR acquired the portfolio after the tenant's restructuring was complete, characterizing the five locations as established, high-traffic performers rather than turnaround assets. Under the triple-net lease structure, At Home is generally responsible for property taxes, insurance and maintenance costs in addition to base rent, reducing property-level operating obligations for the landlord.

Acquisition Basis and Retail Supply Context

At approximately $59 per square foot, PlaceMKR characterizes its acquisition basis as less than one-third of what it would cost to build comparable assets today, implying a replacement-cost benchmark exceeding roughly $178 per square foot. That comparison reflects the firm's view of the current construction environment, though the transaction materials do not provide independent construction cost estimates or a disclosed capitalization rate.

The deal comes as retail supply remains historically constrained. U.S. retail construction completions fell to 4.7 million square feet in the first quarter of 2026, the lowest quarterly delivery volume in two decades, according to data cited by PlaceMKR from CBRE. That figure stands sharply below the sector's modern peak of more than 25 million square feet recorded in the fourth quarter of 2015. CBRE attributed the limited construction outlook to financing constraints, elevated costs and scarce available land. The national retail availability rate held at 4.9% in the second quarter of 2026, with further declines expected as new supply remains limited.

For owners of large-format retail buildings, restricted new supply can support the value of existing assets, particularly where properties carry established traffic, usable parking fields and locations capable of accommodating additional development.

Outparcel Strategy and Growth Markets

Beyond the existing lease income, PlaceMKR identified outparcel development as a key component of its investment thesis. Each of the five sites includes land the firm says could be sold or leased for restaurant, retail or other commercial uses.

The three Texas properties sit in markets the firm knows from prior investments. Dallas-Fort Worth has grown roughly 11% since 2020, outpacing every other top-five metro, and added approximately 123,557 residents over the past year — about 339 people per day, according to figures cited in the announcement. Comal County, home to New Braunfels along the I-35 corridor, grew from 161,501 residents in the 2020 census to an estimated 209,166 in 2025.

PlaceMKR's broader portfolio spans industrial, industrial outdoor storage, data center, office and retail assets, along with ground-up developments. The firm has been active in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston since 2018. The At Home portfolio acquisition extends that footprint to the Gulf Coast and the Midwest for the first time.

Sources

PlaceMKR — PlaceMKR Acquires Multi-State Retail Portfolio Under Long-Term Triple Net Lease