Onni pays $136M in Burbank retail play

Onni Group has picked up a 1.2 million-square-foot mall in Burbank for $136 million — one of the priciest deals this year.

The Toronto-based investor and developer purchased Burbank Town Center at 201 East Magnolia Boulevard from Barings and Cypress Equities, according to the Commercial Observer.

The mall recently underwent a $70 million renovation, which was finished just before the pandemic.

Barnes & Noble and Sears are located at the complex, along with an AMC theater, according to its website.

The deal is one of the most expensive for retail property this year in the Los Angeles area, at around $112 per square foot. Another mall sold for $163 million per-square-foot price in a June acquisition by a joint venture of Atlas Capital Group and Eastern Real Estate. The firms in that deal paid $76 million for a 466,000-square-foot shopping center in the Eagle Rock district of Los Angeles, located about halfway between the the city’s downtown and Burbank.

Some mall owners have opted to sell their assets during the pandemic, given the effect closures had on brick-and-mortar stores. Further south in Orange County, M+D Properties put its 600,000-square-foot retail complex in Buena Park up for sale in July, but did not include an asking price.

Onni owns a number of office and mixed-use developments in Los Angeles and has plans to build a 347-unit tower in the Arts District.