Management contracts
Atlanta — New York-based Times Square Real Estate Investors awarded Jones Lang LaSalle the management and leasing contract for the Worcester Common Outlets in Worcester, Mass.
Worcester Common Outlets is a 1 million-sq.-ft., two-level outlet center with capacity for 126 stores and a food court. It is anchored by Bed, Bath & Beyond, Media Play, The Sports Authority, VF Factory Outlet, and Off 5th — Saks Fifth Avenue Outlet. Roseland, N.J.-based Chelsea Property Group had managed the mall since late 1999.
Jones Lang LaSalle now manages more than 700 million sq. ft. of property worldwide.
Clifton, N.J. — RREEF recently awarded Levin Management Corp. the leasing and management contract for a major portion of Clifton Commons, a 291,166-sq.-ft. center in Clifton, N.J.
Levin Management Corp. will be responsible for a 100,000-sq.-ft. section of the center including a Super Stop & Shop, Staples, Blockbuster Video, Boiling Springs Savings Bank, a Hallmark store, and Clifton Bagels. The balance of the property includes anchors Sports Authority, Barnes & Noble, Party City, General Cinema, Applebees and Chevy's Fresh Mex.
Levin Management Corp.'s leasing and management portfolio has grown to 80 properties totaling more than 9 million sq. ft. The company is based in North Plainfield, N.J. RREEF is a full service real estate investment advisor with corporate offices in San Francisco, Chicago and New York.
Sales and acquisitions
Dallas — An investment affiliate of locally based The Staubach Co. recently acquired 96 CVS drugstore properties for approximately $288 million in cash.
The properties, which comprise more than 1 million-sq.-ft of space, are in Alabama, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and Virginia.
Staubach's financial services division structured long-term lease agreements allow Rhode Island-based CVS to continue to operate and control the properties. The transaction was an important element of CVS's real estate financing strategy, according to Staubach's affiliate, Dallas-based Wolverine Equities Co.
Orlando, Fla. — Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors recently acquired Colonial Plaza Marketcenter in Orlando from Cousins Properties Inc., an Atlanta-based REIT. The center sold for $54 million.
Colonial Plaza, which is directly across from Orlando Square regional mall, sits on 45 acres and is about two miles from downtown Orlando. It is near the affluent areas of Winter Park and Lake Eola. Anchors include Barnes & Noble, Old Navy, Stein Mart, Linens ‘N Things, Marshalls, Babies ‘R’ Us, Rhodes, Staples, Ross Dress for Less, Circuit City and Just For Feet.
Developed as an open center in the 1950s, Colonial Plaza was redeveloped into an enclosed mall in the 1960s. Then, in 1995, Cousins Properties acquired the mall and converted it into an open community center.
Weingarten is in the midst of an ongoing expansion program in Florida.
Houston — GGP/Homart II LLC, a joint venture between General Growth Properties and New York State Common Retirement Fund recently acquired Willowbrook Mall in Houston for close to $144.9 million. The seller was a pension account managed by Lend Lease Real Estate Investments. The property is expected to produce approximately $12.9 million of net operating income by 2001, according to General Growth.
Willowbrook Mall was originally developed in 1981 and underwent extensive remodeling in 1992. The 1.5 million-sq.-ft. center is anchored by Dillard's, Foley's, JCPenney, Lord & Taylor and Sears. According to General Growth, the May Co. likely will operate one of its divisions in an existing Montgomery Wards store.
GGP/Homart, Inc., a private REIT, was formed in December 1995 to purchase the retail real estate portfolio of Sears, Roebuck & Co. The assets purchased included 100% interests in 15 regional malls and 14 partial interests in both existing regional malls and land joint ventures.
Farmington Hills, Mich. — Locally based Royalton Investment Group recently acquired Bradford Plaza, a 124,000-sq.-ft. grocery-anchored neighborhood center in West Chester, Pa., for an undisclosed amount.
The seller was New York-based Wellsford Capital Properties LLC. David T. Wojciechowski of Staubach Retail Services in New York was the investment sales broker in the transaction.
Bradford Plaza, which boasts $30 million in annual sales, is located in Chester County, one of the fastest-growing residential areas in the metropolitan Philadelphia market. Anchor tenants include a 42,500-sq.-ft. Giunta's Thriftway and a 10,800-sq.-ft. CVS. Royal Investment Group is seeking local and national tenants to complement the existing retailers.
San Diego, Calif. — Burnham Pacific Properties Inc. sold Richmond City Center in Richmond, Calif., for $10.4 million to a joint venture between Cleveland-based Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (DDRC), investment fund manager Coventry Real Estate Partners, and Prudential Real Estate Advisors.
Proceeds from the sale of the 76,692-sq.-ft. center will be used for reserves and to reduce the San Diego-based REITs level of debt.
Memphis, Tenn. — St. Louis-based Walpert Properties recently acquired French Village Square, a 50,445-sq.-ft. neighborhood center about four miles from downtown Memphis, for $1.6 million. The seller was locally based Sol I. Jaffe Trust.
Built in 1972, French Village Square's major tenant is the 9,900-sq.-ft. Roy Good Appliance City. The center also includes 10,000 sq. ft. of second-floor office space.
With this acquisition, Walpert now owns and manages almost 250,000 sq. ft. of retail space in Memphis. The company plans to double its holdings in the Memphis market in 2001, according to Walpert's J. Scott Rehm.
Keene, N.H. — FGP Keene Inc., an insurance company based in the Midwest, recently sold Riverside Plaza, a 203,570-sq.-ft. shopping center in Keene, for an undisclosed amount. The buyer was Keene, New Hampshire EDF Riverside LLC of Boston.
Louis Ginsberg, managing director of New York-based Cohen & Co.'s investment sales division, represented FGP Keene Inc. Vera Thomas, senior managing director, represented Keene, New Hampshire EDF Riverside LLC.
Built in 1966, Riverside Plaza is anchored by Bradlees Department Store and Shaws Supermarket. It was renovated in 1995.
Silverthorne, Colo. — Prime Retail recently sold its 257,000-sq.-ft. Silverthorne outlet center to locally based Silverthorne Factory Stores LLC for $29 million.
The sale generated approximately $9 million in net proceeds for the Baltimore-based REIT. Glenn Reschke, Prime Retail's chairman and CEO, says the company will use the money to pay down a portion of a $90 million mezzanine loan that closed in late December 2000.
Financing awards
Dallas — L.J. Melody & Co. recently secured $19 million in financing for Preston Forest Village, a 167,000-sq.-ft. shopping center in Dallas.
Randy Fleisher of L.J. Melody's Dallas office arranged the financing through GMAC on behalf of Dana Commercial Credit.
A CB Richard Ellis Co., Houston-based L.J. Melody is one of the largest real estate banking firms in the U.S., operating offices in 32 major metropolitan markets.
Denver — NorthMarq Capital recently arranged $41.5 million in permanent financing for Marketplace at Northglenn, a 659,772-sq.-ft. retail center in Northglenn, Colo.
Gordon Mickelson, senior vice president of NorthMarq's Denver office, arranged the financing for borrower JP Northglenn LLC.
The Marketplace at Northglenn replaced Northglenn Mall, which opened in 1968. Both were developed by Jordan Perlmutter and Co. The new center includes anchors by Mervyns, Lowes, Ross Dress for Less and Border's Books, among others.
Minneapolis-based NorthMarq is a national REIT providing financing for commercial real estate.
Other transactions
Chicago — Locally based Urban Retail Properties was named exclusive leasing agent and development consultant for The Shoppes at Grand Prairie. The open-air center is a new retail development in Peoria, Ill. The development's owner, Northwest Peoria Retail Development LP, awarded the contract.