NEW VENTURES Lat Purser & Associates Inc., a Charlotte, N.C.-based full-service commercial real estate firm, has created a new commercial real estate services division - LPA Real Estate Advisors - to assist investors in acquiring and managing retail properties throughout the Southeast. Scott H. Husselbee, managing director of LPA, says the new firm offers investment clients a comprehensive range of services, including identifying properties, negotiating purchase agreements, leasing and property management.
Anaheim, Calif.-based Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., a retailer of casual apparel, footwear and accessories to teens and young adults, has launched pacsun.com. The online store offers the latest fashion apparel available in Pacific Sunwear stores and displays high-quality digital images with front and alternate views of the merchandise. The website also offers a wish list function, which allows customers to tell family and friends exactly which items they would like to receive. Pacsun.com automatically e-mails chosen family members or friends with the desired item, and with one click the e-mail recipient will be linked back to the item for instant purchase. The online store also features PipeLine, a community section with news and articles of interest to teen customers.
Atlanta-based Jones Lang LaSalle has been awarded co-leasing and management responsibilities for Glendale Shopping Center in Indianapolis by Kite Development Corp., Indianapolis. The 800,000 sq. ft., 40-year-old center will be renovated to re-establish its position in the marketplace. The redevelopment, scheduled for fall 2000 completion, will include two restaurants and a food court as well as new shop space. L.S. Ayres, Lowe's Home Improvement Center and Kerasotes Showplace Cinema will be among the 50 tenants in the renovated center.
MANAGEMENT CONTRACTS Waltham, Mass.-based Gervais Carew & Dick has been named the exclusive leasing agent for the Mall at Chestnut Hill in Chestnut Hill, Mass. The 500,000 sq. ft. mall, which serves the affluent Chestnut Hill, Brookline and Newton markets, is owned by locally based S.R. Weiner and Associates Inc., which assumed control and management of the property in January. The center is anchored by the only Bloomingdales in Massachusetts.
Covington, La.-based Stirling Properties has been awarded the exclusive leasing contract for the Phase III expansion of Bayou Bernard Shopping Center in Gulfport, Miss. The expansion will add 20,000 sq. ft. to the existing 80,000 sq. ft. center. Centerville, Miss.-based BBT Properties LLC is the center's owner.
Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Carian Wills & Associates has been selected to work in alliance with The Foy Bradford Co., Chicago, to assist in marketing and leasing the $300 million Pittsburgh Waterfront project. The two firms will approach targeted specialty retail and entertainment tenants. Columbus, Ohio-based Continental Real Estate Cos., owner of the project, made the selection. Several tenants have already been signed for the project, including Dave & Buster's, Sony/Loews Cineplex, Lowe's Home Improvement, Giant Eagle and Target.
North Plainfield, N.J.-based Levin Management Corp. has been retained by Kohl's Department Stores to handle the management of 32 locations where the retailer has assumed leases from the now-defunct Caldor chain. The leases include 12 locations in New York, 11 in New Jersey, eight in Connecticut and one in Maryland. The assignment encompasses more than 3 million sq. ft. In nearly one-third of the properties, Levin will be responsible for maintaining the common areas of the entire shopping center in addition to Kohl's. At the remaining properties, Levin will manage only the Kohl's spaces.
Northbrook, Ill-based Grubb & Ellis Management Services Inc., the management subsidiary of Grubb & Ellis Co., has been selected to be the exclusive manager of San Diego-based Burnham Pacific Properties Inc.'s retail portfolio in Washington, Oregon and Southern California. The portfolio contains 42 retail properties and comprises more than 7 million sq. ft. As part of the agreement, Grubb & Ellis will be supported in Washington by TRF Management Corp., a commercial management and leasing concern that serves the Pacific Northwest and Alaska.
Montgomery, Ala.-based Jim Wilson & Associates Inc. has been named the new management and leasing company for Edgewater Mall, an 815,000 sq. ft. regional shopping center in Biloxi, Miss. The choice was made by the mall's owner, Galveston, Texas-based American National Insurance Co. Originally opened in 1963 with just 20 stores, the mall was expanded over the years to include 110 specialty stores as well as anchors JCPenney, Dillard's, McRae's and Sears. The mall completed its most recent renovation/expansion in 1997.
SALES & ACQUISITIONS Johnstown, Pa.-based Zamias Services Inc has entered into a contract to purchase six regional malls, totalling more than 3.7 million sq. ft. of GLA, in the Southwest. The seller is Cleveland-based First Union Real Estate Investments. The purchase price is $191.5 million. The sale is a joint venture with Whitehall Street Real Estate LP XI, a real estate fund sponsored by Goldman Sachs. In addition to the purchase price, the limited partnership has agreed to pay certain costs related to the transfer, title and mortgage assumption. The six malls are: Alexandria Mall, Alexandria, La.; Brazos Mall, Lake Jackson, Texas; Killeen Mall, Killeen, Texas; Mesilla Valley Mall, Las Cruces, N.M.; Shawnee Mall, Shawnee, Okla.; and Villa Linda Mall, Santa Fe, N.M.
Columbia, S.C.-based Edens & Avant has acquired a portfolio of 12 shopping centers. The centers are located in key markets within eight Eastern states targeted by the company. Those states include Maryland, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Florida, Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. The acquisitions increased the company's necessity retail center portfolio by approximately 1 million sq. ft. and brings to 21 the total of Edens & Avant property acquistions this year.
Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors has acquired Bell Plaza, a 143,950 sq. ft. center in Amarillo, Texas, from locally based Amarillo Bell Associates. The sale price for the 17-year-old center was not disclosed. Bell Plaza is 87% leased and is anchored by United Supermarkets, World Gym and Showtime Video. Weingarten owns five other centers in the Amarillo market.
Indianapolis-based Boulevard Fort Wayne LLC has acquired Kmart Plaza East, a 96,680 sq. ft. shopping center in Fort Wayne, Ind. Mid-America Real Estate Corp., an operating company of Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Mid-America Real Estate Group, handled the transaction on behalf of the seller, Spatz Centers Inc. of Northbrook, Ill.
The Great Island Development Group LP, Boston, has acquired North River Plaza, a 233,821 sq. ft. shopping center in Pembroke, Mass., from REEF Funds, a Chicago-based realty adviser. The acquisition was made possible by the creation of a private fund, Windalier LLC, founded to purchase retail space throughout the Northeast. The Great Island Co. will manage the Windalier Fund. The fund's primary investor is The Dead River Co., Portland, Maine, which owns an extensive portfolio of shopping centers, industrial properties and office buildings nationwide.
Denver-based J. Herzog & Sons Inc. has acquired two malls totaling 780,000 sq. ft. The first, Kandi Mall in Wilmar, Minn., is a 450,000 sq. ft. center anchored by Kmart, JCPenney, Herbergers and Carmike Cinemas. The second property is Crossroads Mall, a 330,000 sq. ft. center in Fort Dodge, Iowa, anchored by JCPenney, Younkers and Sears. The sale prices of the transactions were not released.
Dallas-based Coyote Management Inc. has acquired Sikes Senter Mall, a 660,000 sq. ft. center located in Wichita Falls, Texas, from Chicago-based Heitman Capital Management. The price was undisclosed. Anchored by JCPenney, Sears, Beall's and Dillard's, Sikes Senter serves a 17-county trade area that extends into southwest Oklahoma, including nearly 400,000 residents.
A partnership consisting of Dallas-based Crow Holdings and New York-based Investcorp has purchased two shopping centers in the Denver market for $45.85 million. The properties are Arvada Marketplace, a 456,337 sq. ft. strip center, and Arvada Connection, a 61,362 sq. ft. neighborhood center. Both are located north of the intersection of interstates 70 and 76 in Arvada, Colo.
New York-based Rockwood Realty Associates LLC negotiated the sale on behalf of the seller, Atlanta-based Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc., which acted as adviser to one of its private clients.
New York-based MONY Life Insurance Co. has sold Ashton Square Shopping Center in Raleigh, N.C., to Ashton Square LLC, also based in Raleigh, for $3 million. The transaction was brokered by the Raleigh office of Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis.
Hartford, Conn-based Aetna Institutional Investors, I, LP has sold Southern Shopping Center in Norfolk, Va., to Southern Shopping Center LLP, a local investment partnership. The sale price was $13.5 million. The 259,657 sq. ft. center had been part of the Aetna portfolio for 10 years. The property was co-listed by Los Angeles-based CB Richard Ellis and Norfolk-based Advantis Real Estate Services, an affiliate of GVA Worldwide.
North Wilkesboro, N.C.-based Lowe's Home Center has purchased two adjacent Broward County, Fla., shopping centers with plans to raze the centers to build a freestanding Lowe's store on the site. Oak Park Plaza (165,000 sq. ft.) was purchased for $6.3 million, and El Dorado Shopping Center (12,000 sq. ft.) was purchased for $1.7 million. The properties are located at the busy intersection of University Drive and Oakland Park Boulevard, about one-half mile from a Home Depot. Plans are to knock down the Kmart at Oak Park Plaza and demolish all of the other center to make room for the new Lowe's. Miami-based Terranova Corp. brokered the transactions.
Chicago-based Horizon Group Properties Inc. has obtained a $46.6 million fixed-rate loan secured by six factory outlet centers. The loan, funded by New York-based J.P. Morgan, matures on Aug. 1, 2009 and is amortized on a 25-year schedule. The net proceeds from the loan were applied to Horizon Group's existing debt facility with Capital Company of America (CCA), successor to Nomura Asset Capital Corp.
FINANCING AWARDS Atlanta-based Lend Lease Real Estate Investments Inc. has closed a $3.1 million fixed-rate, first-mortgage loan secured by The Americana Center, a 54,700 sq. ft. grocery-anchored center in Mountain View, Calif. Originally developed in 1973, the property underwent extensive renovation in 1998, including the addition of a 49,000 sq. ft. Lucky/Sav-On grocery.
The Chicago office of Irvine, Calif.-based Finova Realty Capital has arranged $9 million in real estate financing for the owners of Lockerbie Marketplace, a 179,000 sq. ft. office and retail complex in Indianapolis. The borrowers, Lockerbie Vermont LLC and New York Street Associates, both based in Indianapolis, received initial funding of $8.4 million with the balance available for tenant improvements and future earnouts.
The Long Island, N.Y. office of Philadelphia-based Legg Mason Real Estate Services has arranged a $5.2 million first-mortgage loan for Summerhill Shopping Center, an 80,000 sq. ft. grocery-anchored center in East Brunswick, N.J. The loan is based on a 15-year term with a 15-year amortization.
The "Best of the Best" supplement in SCW's August 1999 issue contained previously published rankings of top shopping center companies. Developers Diversified Realty Corp. (number 6 on the owners ranking and number 8 on the managers ranking) has moved since the data was originally compiled.
The correct address is 3300 Enterprise Pkwy., Beachwood, OH 44122; phone (216) 755-5500; and fax (216) 755-1500.
The company has also added several new executives, including David M. Jacobstein as president and COO; Loren F. Henry as vice president and director of asset management; Daniel B. Hurwitz as executive vice president and director of leasing; and Eric Mallory as vice president and director of development.