LOS ANGELES — Westwood Financial, a shopping center investment firm based in Los Angeles, has received $171 million in financing in two separate loan transactions. The company will use the debt to refinance or fund acquisitions for 13 retail properties totaling nearly 1.1 million square feet in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina and Texas.
Nationwide Life Insurance Co. provided a $94 million loan for Westwood Financial to refinance or acquire seven multi-tenant retail shopping centers, including:
• the 77,043 square-foot Camelback Village anchored by AJ’s Fine Foods in Phoenix;
• the 116,707-square-foot Elk Crossing anchored by Jewel-Osco in Elk Grove, Ill., near Chicago;
• the 97,229-square-foot Atascocita Center anchored by Kroger in Humble, Texas, near Houston;
• the 101,791-square-foot Market at Lake Houston anchored by H-E-B in Atascocita, Texas, near Houston;
• the 87,632-square-foot Lynwood Collection anchored by Kroger in Raleigh, N.C.;
• the 55,323-square-foot, Trader Joe’s-anchored Arbors at Mallard Creek in Charlotte, N.C.; and
• the 47,518-square-foot Village at Preston Hollow shadow-anchored by Central Market in Dallas.
Additionally, an undisclosed, major life insurance firm provided a $77 million loan for the refinancing of six properties, including:
• the 89,506-square-foot Mercado del Rancho anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market in Scottsdale, Ariz.;
• the 85,516-square-foot Shops at San Marco anchored by Sprouts in Del Ray Beach, Fla.;
• the 92,120-square-foot Evans Crossing anchored by Kroger in Evans, Ga., near Augusta;
• the 101,610-square-foot Haynes Bridge Village anchored by Publix in Alpharetta, Ga., near Atlanta; and
• two California centers shadow-anchored by Ralph’s — the 68,055-square-foot Mercado del Lago in Rancho Santa Margarita in Orange County and the 30,300-square-foot Magnolia Vineland in North Hollywood.
The HFF debt placement team representing Westwood Financial on a national basis included senior managing director Kevin MacKenzie and director Jamie Kline. Regional HFF team members involved in the two loan transactions include Jeremy Womack in Phoenix, Gregg Shapiro in Atlanta, Jason Bond in Chicago, Jim Curtin in Dallas, Nat Scarmazzi in Miami, Cory Fowler in Charlotte and Matthew Putterman in Houston.
Westwood Financial recently restructured its business model from 280 partnerships into a single $1.5 billion entity. The firm’s portfolio now includes 118 grocery-anchored shopping centers spanning more than 10 million square feet in 26 markets across the country. In addition to its Los Angeles headquarters, Westwood Financial has regional offices in Dallas, Atlanta and Scottsdale.
— John Nelson