Cohen Commercial's $40m southern shopping trip.

NEW YORK, NY: Cohen Commercial Properties and American Commercial Realty have joined forces to announce the acquisition of nearly $40 million in shopping center properties in two growth markets during August.

The properties are Westside South Shopping Center, anchored by Home Depot and Rooms to Go, in a New Orleans suburb, and Buttermilk Crossing, anchored by Staples, in a Cincinnati, Kentucky, suburb.

Westside South Shopping Center contains nearly 300,000 s/f. It is located on the Westbank Expressway in the New Orleans suburb of Gretna, at the center of the resurgent West Bank.

Westside South is only minutes by car from much of the metropolitan area. National anchors Home Depot, Rooms to Go, Anna's Linens, Ashley Stewart and Big Lots all report sales amongst the highest in their chains.

Buttermilk Crossing is located along 1-71/75 at the Buttermilk Pike interchange in the affluent and growing Cincinnati suburb of Crescent Springs, Kentucky. Just minutes from both downtown Cincinnati and the Greater Cincinnati International Airport, there is over 400,000 s/f of office space within a mile of the center. It is also adjacent to Buttermilk Town Center, a 315,000 s/ft shopping center anchored by the newly constructed Home Depot and Remke's Market.

"We have been attracted to both of these properties for more than a year," noted Andrew J. Cohen, managing member of Cohen Commercial Properties, the purchaser of both properties.

"They are prototypical of our investment objective, combining great location and strong merchants in areas with natural barriers to new competition."

Both centers have more vacant space than the surrounding market areas.

To improve the value of their assets, Cohen Commercial Properties has again turned to American Commercial Realty, the Palm Beach Gardens, Florida-based property management company. ACR and its affiliates manage over 2,200,000 square feet of commercial space in the Eastern United States.