LOS ANGELES AND NEW YORK — CBRE Global Investors (NYSE: CBRE) has formed a joint venture with Brookfield Property Partners (NASDAQ: BPY) to purchase three super-regional malls totaling 3.7 million square feet from General Growth Properties (NYSE: GGP).
As part of the transaction, CBRE is purchasing a 49 percent stake in the three malls from BPY. The sales price for the portfolio was not disclosed, but The Wall Street Journal reports the deal is valued at more than $1 billion.
The assets include Cumberland Mall, a 1 million-square-foot mall in northwest Atlanta; Ridgedale Center, a 1.2 million-square-foot mall in the western Minneapolis suburb of Minnetonka; and The Parks Mall at Arlington, a 1.5 million-square-foot mall in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.
Cumberland Mall is a 1 million-square-foot mall in northwest Atlanta near the Atlanta Braves’ new stadium, SunTrust Park.
The three malls were 98 percent leased at the time of sale to tenants including Amazon Pop-Up, AMC Theatres, Apple Store, Barnes & Noble, The Cheesecake Factory, Chick-fil-A, Costco, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dillard’s, Disney Store, DSW, H&M, JC Penney, Macy’s, Nordstrom, Nordstrom Rack, Old Navy, Pottery Barn, Sears, Starbucks Coffee, Williams-Sonoma and Victoria’s Secret.
“We believe that Class A, super-regional malls remain one of the most attractive investments available today,” says David Morrison, chief investment officer of the Americas at CBRE Global Investors. “The opportunity to invest in this sector in scale with this level of quality was very attractive, and we look forward to partnering with Brookfield on this portfolio.”
The GGP operations and leasing teams will continue to operate the portfolio as property manager and leasing agent.
Ridgedale Center is a 1.2 million-square-foot mall in Minnetonka, about eight miles west of downtown Minneapolis.
The deal is part of BPY’s $15 billion acquisition of GGP, which closed today. The New York-based global asset management firm already owned a 34 percent stake in the Chicago-based mall owner.
Brookfield Property Partners, which manages about $90 billion in total assets, is the flagship listed real estate company of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management, a global alternative asset manager with over $285 billion in assets under management.
BPY’s stock price closed on Monday, Aug. 27 at $20.20 per share, down from $23.48 a year ago.
Based in Los Angeles, CBRE Global Investors is a global real asset investment management firm with $101.7 billion in assets under management as of June 30. The company’s stock price closed on Monday at $48.02 per share, up from $35.50 a year ago.
— John Nelson