Inland Real Estate Income Trust, Inc. has purchased Fresno’s 224,683-square-foot Marketplace at El Paseo shopping center.

The sale was announced today in a press release issued by Inland.

Matthew Tice, vice president of Inland Real Estate Acquisitions, Inc., confirmed the Oak Brook, Illinois-based Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) purchased the property from Rich Development and Gryphon Capital, which built the northwest Fresno shopping center in 2014.

“This acquisition was an ideal match for Inland Income Trust’s strategy to acquire high quality multi-tenant retail assets,” Tice said.

David Disney of Dallas-based Disney Investment Group brokered the transaction.

"It took us about a year to put the deal together," Disney said.

Other details of the transaction, including the sale price, were not released. But sources close to the deal confirmed the sale included a majority of Phase One of the development.

The sale price of the center was $70 million, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commisssion.

Chris Shane of Los Angeles-based Gryphon Capital said that his company and Rich Development, also based in Southern California, continue to own a large parcel at the Marketplace at El Paseo and have plans for future development there.

“I can’t comment on any of the details involving the Inland sale,” Shane said. “But I can confirm that [Gryphon and Rich] are finishing up our plans for Phase Two of the shopping center. We’re very excited and plan to begin construction work sometime next year.”

Shane said Phase Two will add approximately 300,000 more square feet to the sprawling shopping center.

“We are pleased to expand the reach of Inland Income Trust’s portfolio and the company’s geographic footprint to California with the purchase of Marketplace at El Paseo,” said Mitchell Sabshon, president and CEO of Inland Real Estate Investment Corp.

Marketplace at El Paseo, located at 6549 N. Riverside Dr., at the southeast quadrant of Highway 99 and Herndon Avenue, is currently 96-percent leased, with a roster of national tenants that include Burlington Coat Factory, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, Old Navy, Petco, Ulta Beauty and Famous Footwear.

The shopping center is anchored by Target, which was not included in the transaction.

Inland Real Estate Income Trust owns, either directly or indirectly, a large portfolio of more than 30 million square feet of commercial real estate located throughout the country. According to its website, the vast majority of the privately held REIT’s properties are located in the Eastern U.S.