Vanderbilt University is buying up land in downtown Nashville to expand its footprint in the region. The university paid $66.9 million for a retail center on the town’s West End. The seller was Park Place Retail Partners. They paid $5.67 million for the four-parcel site in 2005.

The 3.23-acre property is anchored by the Park Place shopping center, which offers multiple restaurants, shops and office space in addition to Chipotle and Ted’s Montana Grill. The nearly 60,000-square-foot shopping center was constructed in 1985.

Vanderbilt will lease back the properties to the sellers.

The Nashville Business Journal reports the purchase is the latest addition to the university’s fast-growing Midtown portfolio.Vanderbilt has been buying up Midtown land for the last few years as it plans for the evolution of its campus in coming years, according to a previous statement. The latest purchase racks up the university’s land transaction volume to more than $260 million since 2019.