Blackstone has nabbed 93 shopping centers across the West Coast, including eight in Southern California, by acquiring the Retail Opportunity Investment Corporation for $4 billion.
The New York-based investor acquired the San Diego-based real estate investment trust and its 10.5 million-square-foot portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers in Southern California, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, the Orange County Business Journal and the Commercial Observer reported, citing CoStar.
The all-cash deal, valued at $4 billion including existing debt, closed Feb. 12 after its announcement last fall.
“The [grocery-anchored shopping center] sector is experiencing accelerating fundamentals, benefiting from nearly a decade of virtually no new construction, while demand for brick-and-mortar grocery stores, restaurants, fitness and other lifestyle retailers remains healthy,” Jacob Werner, co-head of Americas Acquisitions at Blackstone Real Estate, said in a statement about the deal in November.
Eight of the shopping centers are in Orange County. The deal included 32 transactions for separate parcels at those properties, for $275 million (minus the prices for the parcels at Santa Ana Downtown Plaza, which weren’t disclosed).
The shopping centers include Peninsula Marketplace and 5 Points Plaza, both in Huntington Beach; Fullerton Crossroads in Fullerton; Harbor Place Center in Garden Grove; Santa Ana Downtown Plaza in Santa Ana; Cypress City West in Cypress; The Village at Nellie Gail Ranch in Laguna Hills; and Marketplace at Mission Foothills in Mission Viejo.
Blackstone paid $40 million for the Peninsula Marketplace at 19021-19125 Goldenwest Street, anchored by a Ralphs Fresh Fare supermarket and Planet Fitness,, the highest price of the OC group, according to the Business Journal.
Most of Fullerton Crossroads at 3200-3362 Yorba Linda Boulevard sold for $37.3 million, with a Kohl’s there trading hands in a separate deal for $35.7 million.
Harbor Place Center at 13190-13220 Harbor Boulevard in Garden Grove, with a Ross Dress for Less, sold for $36.9 million,
5 Points Plaza at 18593 Main Street in Huntington Beach traded in two separate deals, for $35.2 million and $33.5 million, according to the Business Journal.
The remaining Orange County shopping centers in the portfolio swapped ownership for smaller sums.
Cypress Center West at 4005-4197 Ball Road sold for $25 million; most of The Village at Nellie Gail Ranch at 26532 Moulton Parkway sold for $12.8 million, with a Smart & Final Extra! grocery store also selling for $12.3 million.
Marketplace at Mission Foothills at 28721-28841 Los Alisos Boulevard sold for $6.2 million. The price Blackstone paid for Santa Ana Downtown Plaza at 301-431 East 1st Street was not disclosed.
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