A high-profile shopping center just down the road from Southern Methodist University in Dallas recently changed hands. 

Mockingbird Central Plaza, located at 5400 E. Mockingbird Lane, is about half a mile east of U.S. 75 and serves residents in the Lakewood, Park Cities, White Rock and M Streets neighborhood. It's situated at the convergence of multiple neighborhoods, making it a prime piece of real estate. It's also across from Mockingbird Station, a mixed-use development that opened in 2001 and is home to retail, restaurants, apartments, office space and the eight-screen Angelika Film Center & Cafe.

 

David Disney and Adam Crockett of Disney Investment Group represented the Dallas-based seller, Corsair Property Co. The deal closed July 25th, and financial terms of the off-market sale were not disclosed. DIG helped procure the buyer, Curbline Properties Corp., an Ohio-based company which identifies as a public real estate investment trust that specializes in properties that "leverage convenience as the driving characteristic."

 

Mockingbird receives about 41,000 vehicles of traffic per day, according to the new owners. Average household incomes in the area are around $160,000.

"We define that as excellent visibility and access off heavily trafficked thoroughfares (40k vehicles per day), dedicated front-in parking, average household incomes of over $100k with tremendous density/limited supply and in more cases than not, the presence of a drive-thru," Curbline said in an email to Dallas Business Journal.

This acquisition also marks the Curbline's first property purchase in Dallas and its 15th investment in Texas.

Curbline only went public last year and has traded on the NYSE as CURB as of October 2024.

The company recently had its second quarter earnings call, in which Curbline's president and CEO, David Lukes, said the firm aims to continue to dominate in the Dallas and New York City markets.  

"Those are markets that we expect to be able to be competitive and grow the portfolio," Lukes said.

Disney said the sale was a relationship-based transaction as the property was not on the market. Curbline entered the conversation to buy the property earlier this year. 

Additionally, Disney went to SMU for his undergraduate degree and had a personal interest in the transaction of the property. Disney said that while Curbline might be a younger firm, it is very acquisitive and aggressive “for the right properties.” 

Built in 1985, the nearly 80,000-square-foot shopping center is 98% leased and is home to longtime, "convenience-driven" tenants including the flagship location for Whole Earth Provisions, Jason’s Deli, Mattress Firm a fitness center and a contemporary ballet school. 

“It's very difficult to find sellers that own these types of urban infill, irreplaceable locations, and it's hard to find the guys that will sell,” he added. “So it's always nice when you can create a compelling reason to get the owner to become a seller.” 

Corsair Property quietly acquired the property in 2021 from a local family trust. Dallas Central Appraisal District last valued the property at $21 million, and lists Corsair Mockingbird LLC as its owner since March 12, 2021. DCAD valued the land that the property sits on at around $14.3 million.

Renovation work also took place under Corsair’s ownership to enhance the property’s exterior and consisted of a new paint job and new roof. According to a state filing from May, it appears one of the center’s tenants, a fitness studio called Nooma, is currently renovating its space by adding a new yoga studio for an estimated cost of $275,000. 

As of now, Disney said it’s unclear if additional capital-improvement work will take place at the site under the new ownership, which also plans to handle leasing efforts. Currently, there is only one vacancy at the property, and the empty space spans a total of around 1,500 square feet.

“There's always going to be a revolving door of tenants at any shopping center, and here, it's no exception,” he said. “I think (the new owners) are very happy with the folks that are there now, but as vacancies come along, they'll add new tenants.”

Chipotle is expected to open a new location at the retail center in a 3,000-square-foot space sometime in 2026, replacing a former restaurant concept that closed in the last year. Chipotle signed its lease for the new location about two months ago. 

A transit-oriented development called Mockingbird Station East was also recently approved for the area and is expected to bring nearly 400 mixed-income apartments to the area. It’s unclear when the $123 million project will be completed.