New York, Dallas Firms Acquire Allen's Watters Creek Village, Plan Upgrades

Drew Steffen was direct about what he thinks Watters Creek Village already is: "a flagship destination." The CEO of Dallas-based Gillon Property Group and his partners at New York-based Town Lane closed on the acquisition of Allen's 460,000-square-foot mixed-use center April 1, and the conviction behind that phrase shapes everything they plan to do with it.

The 46-acre property along U.S. 75, a corridor that sees more than 200,000 vehicles per day, includes roughly 360,000 square feet of retail and 100,000 square feet of boutique office space. Market Street, the upscale grocer operated by The United Family under the Albertsons banner, anchors a tenant lineup that includes Anthropologie, Barnes & Noble, Lululemon, Sephora, Warby Parker, Mi Cocina and local spots like Vaqueros and Tutto Gustoso. The deal was backed by debt financing from an Ares Real Estate fund; transaction terms were not disclosed.

For shoppers who treat a Saturday run to Market Street as the start of a longer loop through the center's green space and water features, the first visible changes will come in the form of upgraded wayfinding and signage. The ownership group also cited merchant mix optimization as an early priority, meaning vacancies get filled with dining or lifestyle concepts that align with the center's experiential direction rather than overhauling what's already working. Expanded programming, including seasonal activations, is intended to pull more weekday foot traffic into a property that mostly sees its busiest hours on weekends.

SHOP Companies will lead retail leasing and repositioning; Thirty-Four Commercial continues handling office space.

Tyler Henritze, managing partner at Town Lane, said the firm is "excited to expand its investments in the retail sector" through the purchase and pledged to invest additional capital to make Watters Creek "a vibrant destination for the Allen community." Steffen added that the partners' priority is "patient, hands-on ownership," with a goal of reinforcing the center as "a long-term gathering place for all North Texans."

Delivered in 2008, Watters Creek has anchored Allen's retail corridor for nearly two decades and remains one of the city's more significant sales-tax generators. The new owners are betting that a busier events calendar and sharper merchandising can convert some of the 200,000-plus daily drivers on U.S. 75 into regulars at a center they see as having more room to grow.