Trademark and Cohen & Steers Acquire Oak Hill Plaza in Austin as Trademark Advances $417 Million Texas Retail Pipeline

FORT WORTH, Texas — Trademark Property Company (Trademark) and global investment manager Cohen & Steers acquired Oak Hill Plaza, a 116,000-square-foot neighborhood shopping center in Austin, as part of four Texas development and redevelopment transactions Trademark closed over a six-week span this summer, the company announced Sept. 29, 2026.

Together, the four projects are valued at $417 million and total more than 830,000 square feet of retail space. Trademark, a retail and mixed-use investor, developer and operator, also took over management of Atlantic Station in Atlanta during the same period, which the company described as the busiest stretch in its 30-year history.

Trademark and Cohen & Steers Acquire Oak Hill Plaza in Austin

Oak Hill Plaza sits at the northwest corner of U.S. 290 and SH 71 in Southwest Austin. Trademark and Cohen & Steers acquired the property, and Trademark will manage and lease the center. Trademark also will lead a renovation of the property and the upgrade of its tenant lineup.

The acquisition differs from the other three transactions in that it involves an existing, income-producing center rather than a ground-up or redevelopment project, giving Trademark control of an operating asset while it pursues renovation and tenant repositioning.

Three Additional Texas Projects Secure Financing

The other three projects are in Arlington, Southlake and Cypress.

In Arlington, Trademark and joint venture partner Harrison Street Asset Management broke ground on Anthem, a $135 million-plus redevelopment of the 43-year-old former Lincoln Square shopping center at 1500 N. Collins St. InterBank provided refinancing and construction financing for the 43-acre project, which will include 404,000 square feet of retail, dining and entertainment space. Groundbreaking occurred in August 2026, and completion is scheduled for early 2028.

In Southlake, Trademark secured financing, with equity from Harrison Street Asset Management, and started construction on Shivers Farm. The 40-acre, Whole Foods-anchored mixed-use community will include 111,000 square feet of retail and a 38,000-square-foot boutique office building. Construction began in September 2026, with commercial completion targeted for late 2027.

In Cypress, outside Houston, Trademark and equity partner MetLife Investment Management secured debt financing from PNC Bank for Dunham Pointe, a 202,000-square-foot retail and restaurant district on 25 acres at the intersection of U.S. Highway 290 and Mason Road. Construction is underway, with more than 60% of the space pre-leased and 14 tenants signed. Whole Foods Market is anchoring both Dunham Pointe and Shivers Farm.

The disclosed retail components of the four projects total approximately 833,000 square feet, consistent with the company's figure of more than 830,000 square feet.

Market Conditions Behind the Activity

Trademark tied the timing of the transactions to conditions in the retail real estate market. According to JLL, national retail vacancy held at 4.4% in the second quarter of 2026, below the 7.4% historical average. JLL also reported that retail net absorption reached 10.2 million square feet in the quarter, the second-strongest quarterly result in two years, and that new retail construction remains scarce nationally, with much of the remaining pipeline concentrated in Sun Belt markets.

Dallas, Houston and Austin, home to all four of Trademark's Texas closings, account for 21% of the current national construction pipeline. In JLL's June 2026 U.S. retail report, 48% of investors said they were interested in investing in new retail development in 2026, and 81% include grocery-anchored centers in their investment thesis. Whole Foods Market was the tenant investors most often selected as their top choice in that report.

JLL also reported that grocery-anchored centers in secondary and tertiary markets achieved 4.3% year-over-year rent growth, compared with 3.7% in primary markets, and that the number of lenders actively quoting retail deals has increased 115% from the fourth-quarter 2023 low.

"Capital is back, retail vacancy is at the tightest level I've seen in decades, and some ground-up projects are breaking ground again," said Terry Montesi, founder and CEO of Trademark. "After the longest drought I've seen in this business, we believe this the start of a new retail cycle. Trademark spent the last several years preparing for this moment, and we're ready to lead."

Kevin Kessinger, Trademark's president and COO, said: "Capital that sat on the sidelines for years is starting to move again. We are pleased quality lenders and equity partners came to the table quickly on all four of these deals, evidence that well-located retail in high-quality locations is scarce. That's the clearest signal yet that the market has turned."

Atlantic Station and Other Trademark Activity

Trademark closed a fifth agreement in the same six-week window, taking over management, leasing and operations of Atlantic Station, a 138-acre mixed-use district in Atlanta, effective Aug. 1. The company hired retail veteran Sean McIntosh as general manager to oversee the property's 585,590-square-foot retail footprint.

The company also announced renovations at Longview Mall in Longview, Texas, and has renovations underway at Galleria Dallas. A recent report from analytics firm Green Street found that malls are outperforming all commercial property sectors, with values up 13%.

Other recent milestones include the June 2026 grand opening of The Vickery, a multifamily-led mixed-use community in Fort Worth, and the start of construction on Westbend Residences, a 321-unit community overlooking Fort Worth's Trinity River that is part of the larger Westbend mixed-use project. Trademark is also advancing 3900 Lemmon Avenue, a 362-unit residential mixed-use community with public open space in the Turtle Creek/Oak Lawn area, scheduled to close in October. In Celina, Texas, the company plans to break ground next year on Shawnee Trail, a mixed-use development anchored by Walmart.

About Trademark Property Company

Fort Worth-based Trademark is a full-service real estate firm focused on investments, development and institutional services for retail, multifamily, office and mixed-use properties. The company has invested in, developed or redeveloped 24 million square feet of mixed-use, multifamily and retail assets worth $5 billion. With more than 200 employees, Trademark operates a 19-property retail and mixed-use portfolio totaling more than 10 million square feet across the country, including projects recently awarded, and is actively advancing four development projects.

Sources

Trademark Property Company press release, "Trademark Closes Four Deals in Six Weeks, Marks Start of Retail Investment and Development Cycle": https://trademarkproperty.com/trademark-closes-four-deals-in-six-weeks-marks-start-of-retail-investment-and-development-cycle/