NATIONAL CITY, CALIF. — A joint venture between Henderson Park and Lowe has acquired Plaza Bonita, a 1 million-square-foot enclosed regional mall in National City within San Diego County. The seller and sales price were not disclosed, but The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Paris-based mall giant Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield sold the property for $201.5 million.
Built in 1981, Plaza Bonita sits on a 78-acre site and serves the San Diego suburbs of National City and Chula Vista. Anchor tenants of the mall include Macy’s, Target, JCPenney, AMC Theatres, Nordstrom Rack and Round1. Overall, the mall houses 150 stores, restaurants and entertainment venues.
Henderson Park and Lowe plan to upgrade and reposition the mall through “significant capital improvements and leasing investment.” The joint venture partners also plan to refresh existing stores and enhance common areas. The construction timeline for the renovations and remerchandising program was not shared.
“Plaza Bonita provided a compelling opportunity to acquire and operate a well-performing and stabilized asset that can benefit from physical updates and potential new uses,” says Joel Mayer, executive vice president at Lowe. “Alongside Henderson Park, we intend to build on its strengths and update the property by devoting capital to a host of improvements, including creating more inviting public spaces and plazas to encourage gathering and increase outdoor dining areas. We intend to add local restaurants, specialty food cafes and entertainment uses, along with new retailers that offer a variety of experiences for all ages.”
Henderson Park and Lowe have selected Centennial to manage and lease Plaza Bonita moving forward. Lowe will also lend its property management expertise for the mall via its Retail reVision platform. Eastdil Secured brokered the transaction, and Morgan Stanley provided an undisclosed amount of acquisition financing for the buyers.
A recent survey found that Plaza Bonita drew 11 million visitors over the previous 12 months, making it the most trafficked shopping mall in the San Diego metropolitan area.
“This is a well-established center that has already demonstrated its staying power, drawing strong and growing visitation year after year,” says Dennis Schiloff, managing director of Henderson Park. “Through a disciplined program of capital investment and leasing initiatives, we are confident in our ability to meaningfully grow the property’s performance and reposition this asset from A- to A quality.”
Henderson Park is based in Charleston, S.C., and maintains offices in the United States and Europe. The firm has invested in more than $15 billion in real estate assets since its founding in 2016.
Formerly known as Lowe Enterprises, Los Angeles-based Lowe is a national real estate investment, development and operating company that maintains verticals in retail, affordable housing and office sectors. The company has developed, acquired or managed more than $38 billion in real estate assets over the past 54 years. Lowe currently has a real estate development pipeline exceeding $2.6 billion in value.
— John Nelson