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Three bay area malls getting a new owner
By JEFF HARRINGTON, Times Staff Writer Three Tampa Bay area malls -- Citrus Park Town Center, Brandon TownCenter and Countryside Mall -- are switching from Dutch to Australian owners as part of a $3.1-billion selloff of Rodamco North America's 35 shopping centers. Westfield America Trust, Australia's largest property trust, is paying $1.36-billion and assuming $936-million of existing Rodamco debt and preferred stock for 13 Rodamco centers, including its three bay area properties. Westfield also is taking over a center now in a joint venture with Rodamco. It would not disclose how much it was paying for each center. Westfield already owns 39 shopping centers in nine states, primarily on the East Coast. This marks its first move into Florida, spokeswoman Catharine Dickey said. Urban Retail Properties of Chicago has acted as manager of the Citrus Park, Brandon and Countryside malls and it recently leveraged that strength to pick up management of St. Petersburg's Pier tourist attraction. Dickey said Westfield would replace Urban Retail with its own management company, but employees at the operating level likely will not be affected. She said it was premature to talk about changes or upgrades at any of the three locations. Cindy Bohde, executive vice president of Urban Retail, said the company's October contract taking over management of the Pier should not be affected. Rodamco of the Netherlands had assembled a portfolio that includes Century City Shopping Center in Los Angeles, the Galleria in Houston, Copley Place in Boston, Garden State Plaza in suburban New Jersey, Oakbrook Center in Chicago and Perimeter Mall in Atlanta. All the properties are included in a sale that includes Simon Property Group, of Indianapolis, and the Rouse Co., of Columbia, Md., as buyers in addition to Westfield. Simon, which owns or has an interest in 252 worldwide properties, is paying $980-million and assuming $570-million of existing Rodamco debt and preferred stock. Rouse, which operates more than 200 real estate properties in 21 states including Faneuil Hall Marketplace in Boston and Maryland's Towson Town Center, will pay $775-million and assume $675-million in debt. The transaction has been approved by the companies' boards of directors, but is subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals. It is expected to be completed by March. -- Information from Times wires was used in this report. Jeff Harrington can be reached at harrington@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3407.
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From the Times Business report
From the AP
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