The company that bought Wilmington's Mayfaire shopping areas in June for $192 million is selling one of the portions -- the 210,000-square-foot Mayfaire Community Center -- for more than $53 million, according to a Monday news release. 

CBL & Associates Properties Inc., based in Tennessee, announced Monday that it had entered into a binding agreement for the sale of Mayfaire Community Center, which is anchored by a Harris Teeter grocery store, to Principal Real Estate Investors for a cash purchase price of $56.3 million, according to the news release.

The transaction is scheduled to close in December. CBL will provide leasing and management services for the new owners, the release said.

“Mayfaire Community Center is an ideal fit for our client’s retail strategies. It is the premier grocery anchored center in the Wilmington market with best in class tenants such as Harris Teeter, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls, Panera Bread, and Wells Fargo,” said Jim Halliwell, managing director of Principal Real Estate Investors, in the announcement. “The 'Mayfaire' brand is very powerful in the market and the live, work, play atmosphere of the Mayfaire mixed-use development provides exceptional demand drivers and truly creates a 'sense of place' for patrons. We look forward to working with CBL on this asset.”

Stephen D. Lebovitz, CBL’s president and chief executive officer, said in the release that his company is retaining the larger Mayfaire Town Center, along with "the benefits of the two centers’ synergy.”