Two SoCal Malls Fetch Over $165 Mil

LOS ANGELES-Interests in two large Southern California malls have been sold in separate transactions valued at roughly $168 million, the latest sign that investors still have faith in the region’s market for shopping centers despite sagging consumer confidence and sluggish retail sales.

In the largest transaction, privately held Pacific Coast Capital Partners agreed to buy the 500,000-sf Torrance Crossroads retail complex in Torrance for about $108 million. The seller is a partnership of Overton Moore Properties and a pension fund represented by Boston-based AEW Capital Management.

Torrance Crossroads is fully leased to tenants that include “big-box” anchors Sam’s Club and Home Depot. The Overton Moore-AEW development partnership opened the facility at Lomita and Crenshaw boulevards in 1992.

Though Pacific Coast Capital Partners wouldn’t disclose what it paid for the complex, a source familiar with the transaction tells GlobeSt.com that the purchase price is “fairly close” to what the property has been marketed for over the past few months—about $108 million.

In the other transaction, Cleveland-based real estate giant Forest City Enterprises bought the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s 50% interest in the trendy Galleria at South Bay. The 1.13-million-sf mall stands at the corner of Hawthorne and Artesia boulevards in Redondo Beach.

A Forest City official wouldn’t say how much the company paid for the half-interest, but says the transaction valued the property itself at $116 million. The mall is 96% leased, with anchors Nordstrom, Mervyn’s and Robinson-May.

Forest City developed the mall in the mid-1980s before selling a half-interest to CalPERS in 1992. Now that it once again has full ownership, Forest City plans to launch a $10-million renovation of the property soon.