Two North Texas retail centers have traded in deals totaling more than $45 million in what one broker said is a prime example of the influx of private capital seeking retail therapy in real estate.

Newport Capital Partners, a Chicago-based employee-owned real estate investment firm, acquired Towne Crossing, a nearly 167,000-square-foot retail center at 3600 Gus Thomasson Road in Mesquite, Texas, a Dallas-area suburb. The seller was Phillips Edison & Co. The property is anchored by a Kroger grocery store that recently renewed its lease for 10 years.

"Their sales were really strong to begin with and when Kroger decided to go ahead and stay at the center, it was a real shot in the arm to the center," David Disney, a principal at Dallas-based Disney Investment Group who represented the seller, told CoStar News.

"When we put it out to market, there was a real feeding frenzy," said Disney, who launched his namesake boutique capital markets brokerage that specializes in the retail sector in 2013.

The buyer, Newport Capital Partners, plans to invest in the retail property to "improve the look and help drive rents," Disney added.

The successful sale of Towne Crossing comes as Disney Investment Group also represented the seller in a separate deal in Mesquite. Dallas-based Dogwood Commercial sold Broadmoor Plaza, a nearly 88,000-square-foot retail center at 500 N. Galloway Ave. to Allen, Texas-based Blueprint Investment Properties.

The retail center was 100% leased at the time of sale with tenants such as Hibbett Sports, Five Below and H&R Block.

"Literally within 24 hours of us taking it to market, we had an offer from a buyer that exceeded the high end of expectations from the seller," Disney said, adding like the other Mesquite shopping center, the buyer came from private capital.

"For the right assets, buyers are willing to pay up," Disney said, despite interest rates remaining elevated. "Capital is still willing to step up and pay a premium for the best assets on the market or the ones with the right rental growth profile to support their aggressive underwriting."

The two Texas deals, which closed in the past month, come on the heels of Disney representing Rainier Cos. in the sale of University Town Center near the University of Oklahoma in Norman to Mazaheri Properties and Champion Hotels in a $82.25 million deal. The three deals in total were about $128 million, Disney said.

"I'm seeing more and more private buyers continuing to enter the market," Disney added. "The private guys are certainly taking their turn in the marketplace to acquire some of these assets. They are having a moment."

CoStar's Director of Market Analytics Cody Gibbs, who analyzes the North Texas retail market, said private buyers have played a "major role" in shopping center sales in the last year.

"As a segment, they have acquired over 1 million square feet of shopping center space during that timeframe, or just under 60% of all transactions," Gibbs said.