Despite the coronavirus pandemic dramatically disrupting the retail sector, DFW shopping center sales are still getting done.

Two Dallas-area shopping centers exchanged hands last week in separate deals even though the state of brick-and-mortar retail remains in flux.

The 118K SF LBJ Oates Summit Shopping Center at the intersection of Interstate 635 and Oates Drive in Mesquite sold to an undisclosed investor in a 1031 exchange, according to Structure Commercial President Eric Deuillet, who served as broker for the seller, Retail Plazas Inc.

What pushed the investor to buy the 30% leased property in the midst of a tough retail environment? Retail Plazas Inc. pointed to a steep discount and the 1031 exchange process, which requires buyers to quickly engage in a new transaction to enjoy tax benefits.

"I'm assuming the sales price had something to do with it," Retail Plazas Vice President of Acquisitions and Development Trey Hodge said. "We sold it at a price less than what it would cost to build it, and the investor had a 1031 exchange that they needed to close."

The site contains a 47K SF empty grocery store box that Hodge sees as an asset to the future owner.

"I think it can be a grocery center again, depending on the grocery store," Hodge said. "I would say its highest and best use is a grocery store in the future."

Another grocery-anchored center changed hands this week in Irving.

The 125K SF Towne North shopping center anchored by El Rancho Supermercado in Irving sold to an out-of-state private equity firm.

Disney Investment Group handled the transaction on behalf of the seller, an entity controlled by Nayeb Group.

The center was renovated last year and repositioned to cater to the area's growing Hispanic population, according to DIG brokers David Disney and Adam Crockett.

The shopping center is 97% leased and located at the southwest corner of Beltline Road and Northgate, a mile away from the Irving Mall.

The center used to be anchored by a Tom Thumb grocery store, but it is now home to El Rancho, a Hispanic grocery brand partly owned by Albertson's Cos.

This is not DIG's first time to broker the center. The group sold Towne North to Nayeb Group on behalf of an affiliate of HSM Equities in 2019.