.floatimg-left-hort { float:left; } .floatimg-left-caption-hort { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:300px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatimg-left-vert { float:left; margin-top:10px; margin-right:15px; width:200px;} .floatimg-left-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; font-size: 12px; width:200px;} .floatimg-right-hort { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px;} .floatimg-right-caption-hort { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 300px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimg-right-vert { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px;} .floatimg-right-caption-vert { float:left; margin-right:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; font-size: 12px; } .floatimgright-sidebar { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 200px; border-top-style: double; border-top-color: black; border-bottom-style: double; border-bottom-color: black;} .floatimgright-sidebar p { line-height: 115%; text-indent: 10px; } .floatimgright-sidebar h4 { font-variant:small-caps; } .pullquote { float:right; margin-top:10px; margin-left:10px; margin-bottom:10px; width: 150px; background: url(http://www.dmbusinessdaily.com/DAILY/editorial/extras/closequote.gif) no-repeat bottom right !important ; line-height: 150%; font-size: 125%; border-top: 1px solid; border-bottom: 1px solid;} .floatvidleft { float:left; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;} .floatvidright { float:right; margin-bottom:10px; width:325px; margin-right:10px; clear:left;}
R&R Realty Group and a longtime investment partner have parted ways.

Mark Rupprecht, president of R&R, said Highwoods Properties Inc., a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) based in Raleigh, N.C., wanted to focus on properties it owns in the Southeast.

Highwoods bought J.C. Nichols Co. in 1998 and assumed its interests in R&R projects. J.C. Nichols was a long-admired developer of residential, retail and industrial properties. The company was founded in the 1920s in Kansas City, Mo., where it turned swampland into the the nation’s first vehicle-oriented shopping district, the County Club Plaza, which opened in 1923.

More than 60 years later, R&R founder Dan Rupprecht got J.C. Nichols involved in his projects in Greater Des Moines.

Highwoods, which continues to own and manage properties in the Kansas City shopping district, said it sold its interests in local office, residential and industrial projects to R&R for $15 million. In addition, the company is no longer a party to $170 million in non-recourse loans, said Tabitha Zane, a Highwoods vice president.

“Des Moines is not a core market for Highwoods,” she said. “This was the only significant joint venture that we didn’t manage. By selling, we enhanced our flexibility.”

Highwoods has been divesting properties since 2005, many of them previously owned by J.C. Nichols, while continuing to look for opportunities closer to is base of operations. Company officers said in a recent conference call with analysts that it has not been able to find a use, to date, for a $400 million credit facility.

Zane said the company has sold $886 million in property since 2005.

Highwoods also is attempting to pull out of the Winston-Salem, N.C., market It plans to remain active in Atlanta, Tampa, Orlando, Nashville and Richmond, Va.

The Des Moines properties included 1.7 million square feet of office space, 788,000 square feet of industrial space, 45,000 square feet of retail space and 418 apartment units, all with a gross asset value of about $200 million, Zane said.

They were expected to generate $17.8 million of total cash net operating income annually, she said.

In a news release, Highwoods said the properties were expected to contribute 5 cents per share to the company’s funds from operations for all of 2010.

R&R is looking for investors to replace Highwoods, Mark Rupprecht said. The company traditionally has looked to institutional investors for its projects.

“For us it’s just really a transition time,” he said. “We’re looking for a replacement partner. For our customers and employees, there won’t be any change in operations.”

Rupprecht said R&R has no plans to unload its properties.

“We’re long-term holders of real estate,” he said. “We’ve owned these properties for 25 years, and we plan to continue to own them for a very long time.”

Highwoods was one of few REITs involved in Greater Des Moines real estate. General Growth Properties Inc., owner of Jordan Creek Town Center in West Des Moines, is the most prominent.

Eric Lohmeier, managing director of NCP Investment Banking in Des Moines, said REITs are not lured to Greater Des Moines in great numbers.

“Des Moines is almost an impossible market to scale, because you don’t have the population density and the amount of projects,” Lohmeier said.