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'For sale' sign placed on University Mall

The Tampa mall is one of five its Ohio-based owner is planning to sell.

By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published May 19, 2006

The owners of Tampa's University Mall have put the 1.2-million-square-foot regional mall up for sale along with four other malls outside the state it no longer considers worthy of being a core asset.

Glimcher Realty Trust, a Columbus, Ohio, real estate investment trust that owns 26 malls and seven shopping centers, has been weeding older, marginally performing malls from its portfolio for some time.

On Thursday, the company revealed plans to sell five more malls, including University, and said it expects to report a loss of $1.16 to $1.19 per share for the current quarter and earnings of 96 cents to $1.04 a share for the full 2006 fiscal year once the properties are sold. The announcement came after the stock market closed.

"Aggressively selling noncore assets is a central part of our strategy to upgrade the overall quality of our real estate,'' said Michael Glimcher, president and chief executive officer.

"Even with the initial recognition of the noncash impairment charges, we are anticipating an overall net gain of $10-million to $30-million on the sale of these five properties,'' said Mark Yale, executive vice president and chief financial officer.

University, now more than 30 years old and in the congested shadow of the University of South Florida next door, has been challenged by Westfield malls in Citrus Park and Brandon, plus new competition in New Tampa and Wesley Chapel. University already lost its JCPenney to Wiregrass Shops in Wesley Chapel and stands to lose its Dillard's, which has announced plans to open in Wiregrass when the rest of that mall opens in late 2007.

Regardless, University Mall has been aggressively repositioning itself with more moderately priced and discount-priced stores that appeal to young people. With Macy's, Dillard's and Sears as anchors, it still qualifies as a traditional regional mall. And with a healthy 89 percent of its space leased and average sales per square foot of $325 in 2006, University performs close to the national average in sales productivity. It also has the healthiest life signs of the five malls Glimcher is putting on the block. Three of the other properties are only two-thirds leased and generate a third less sales per square foot.

Glimcher also owns WestShore Plaza in Tampa. In comparison, that mall is 94 percent leased and generated sales per square foot of $466.

[Last modified May 19, 2006, 06:11:02]