EAST COBB - Columbia Properties Inc. announced its recent $17 million purchase of east Cobb's Merchants Exchange shopping center at the intersection of Upper Roswell Road and East Cobb Drive.

The 130,013-square-foot shopping center is anchored by LA Fitness and Picture Show movie theater, and has several stores including a Quiznos and Nail Pros Tan & Spa. The Marietta-based commercial real estate firm purchased the property from Australian-based Centro Properties Group as a long-term investment, according to the firm.

Despite the current economy, Columbia said the purchase is a good investment, spokesman Mike Rieman said.

"The shopping center is 98 percent leased with retail tenants who are having success even in the current difficult retail environment," Rieman said.

Andy Campbell, a partner with Columbia Properties, said, "We were able to secure a below-market loan providing our investors with a well-located, stabilized asset generating a high return."

The firm said it has no immediate plans to change the shopping center.

Elsewhere in Cobb, Columbia officials said they are in the process of redeveloping the old Home Depot landscape supply store, at the corner of South Cobb Drive and the East-West Connector in Smyrna, into an upscale shopping center.

The firm owns the 78,733-square-foot Village at Powder Springs; 14,300-square-foot Vinings Court; and the 90,000-square-foot Oaks West Cobb, according to its Web site. Officials said they also have plans to acquire additional retail assets in the metro Atlanta over the next 12 to 18 months.