Urban Retail Properties, LLC, one of the country's largest third-party managers of retail space, got back into the acquisitions game with its purchase of the Oakland Mall, a 1.5-million-square-foot superregional mall in Troy, Mich., from a group of investors including Jay J. Kogan and Douglass Mossman. The deal marks the first acquisition for the Chicago-based firm since it became independent after being co-owned for years by Westfield Group, Simon Property Group and Rouse Co., which had acquired the firm in their takeover of Rodamco in 2002.
Urban chose Oakland Mall for the milestone deal because it believes in the Detroit area and because with the opportunity for expansion and re-merchandising, the center offers a lot of upside, said CEO Ross Glickman. At the moment, the property draws from a trade area of 1.49 million people, with annual household incomes of $72,671. Macy's, JCPenney and Sears serve as the mall's anchors. Glickman would not disclose details of the deal, but Crain's Detroit Business estimates the center's price at somewhere between $100 million and $150 million.