New Ownership Reviving Lucedale Marketplace

Biloxi, Mississippi – New life is being breathed into Lucedale Marketplace, a languishing shopping center located at a prime intersection on the retail corridor in Lucedale, Mississippi. Recently purchased by, DHS Ventures, LLC, the center has been home to successful chains, Peebles and Subway, as well as local merchants and a regional finance company. DHS Ventures, LLC is a commercial real estate company focused on retail development and tenant representation throughout the South.

The long anticipated Hibbett Sports will be joining the shopping center’s line-up with a 4,800 SF store offering a wide selection of sporting goods to fit the needs of area athletes. With interior construction already under way, DHS Ventures, LLC and Hibbett Sports look forward to announcing its Grand Opening in the near future.

Also under construction is a 21,259 SF Tractor Supply Company. With over 948 stores in 44 states, Tractor Supply Company is the largest operator of retail farm and ranch stores in the United States. Completion is scheduled for October 2010.

COMVEST Properties, LLC, a full service commercial real estate company located in Biloxi, Mississippi, has been retained to lease the remaining 1200 SF vacant space. With several national retailers interested in the market, the 50,000 SF Lucedale Marketplace is expected to soon boast 100% occupancy.

COMVEST Closes Complicated Redevelopment Transaction

Biloxi, MS – August 25, 2010 – When the developers at COMVEST Properties set out to purchase a stagnant, underutilized shopping center on the retail corridor of Lucedale, Mississippi, they saw an opportunity where others only saw an impossibility. The 50,000 square foot Lucedale Marketplace, at the corner of Old Hwy 63 and Cowart Street, was 37% occupied, in foreclosure and the target of pending liens. With three other similar shopping center acquisitions and redevelopments in the COMVEST portfolio, the developers knew they were looking at a diamond in the rough.

One year later Lucedale Marketplace boasts 97% occupancy, new national tenants, and a new owner. Over the course of that year, the COMVEST team used their experience and relationships to weather the challenges of re-foreclosure, renegotiation of existing tenant leases, lien waiver negotiations, new tenant leases, and ultimately secured a purchaser who brought Tractor Supply Company to the asset’s vacant anchor space. As well as a local tobacco shop and dry cleaners, co-tenants include Peebles, Hibbett Sports, Subway and Harrison Financial. In an economy where municipalities are more dependent than ever on sales tax revenue,this line up of retailers is a welcome boon to the City as well as area shoppers.

With a company-wide commitment to value creation for the asset, the community and its financial partners, COMVEST Properties has delivered another tangible example of its Mission Statement,
“Our corporate values are focused on integrity, knowledge, accountability and results.”