PGIM buys into Long Beach retail

New Year’s confetti has showered Burnham Ward Properties, which just closed on the sale of its Long Beach Exchange (LBX) shopping center to PGIM Real Estate for nearly $160 million.

The deal for the open-air mall near Long Beach Airport marks the biggest reported retail sale in the region since the onset of the pandemic – and a record sale for Burnam Ward, according to the Orange County Business Journal.

At nearly $600 per square foot, the sale was among the priciest for a retail center in Southern California in recent years.

The Newport Beach-based developer opened the 266,000-square-foot shopping center at 4069 N. Lakewood Blvd. in 2018 at a cost of around $100 million. It was the first significant retail project built in Long Beach since the Great Recession.

The 26-acre complex is anchored by Whole Foods, with retail tenants that include Nordstrom Rack, TJ Maxx, Old Navy, PetSmart and Ulta. The Hangar, a 17,000-square-foot food court in a faux vintage aviation hangar, is a popular draw for foodies.

San Jose-based DJM Capital Partners will handle management, leasing and marketing of LBX.

DJM Capital teamed up with Gaw Capital Partners in 2019 to purchase the 463,000-square-foot Hollywood & Highland Center at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. from CIM Group for $325 million. The outdoor complex next to the Dolby Theatre will soon be dubbed Ovation Hollywood.

DJM Capital also has stakes in Lido Marina Village in Newport Beach, the 841,000-square-foot Bella Terra in Huntington Beach, and Runway, an outdoor mall in Playa Vista.

PGIM Real Estate, an asset management affiliate of insurance and investment giant Prudential Financial, in 2015 paid nearly $289 million for a 75 percent stake in Bella Terra, which reported $121 million in taxable sales for the 12 months ended June 30, according to the OC Business Journal.

Burnham Ward, a retail player in Orange County, developed OC Mix and South Coast Collection in Costa Mesa, Castaway Commons in Newport Beach, and is renovating the retail portion of Dana Point Harbor. It also has a newly revamped Gateway at Mission Viejo, home to the first Amazon Fresh grocery store in South Orange County.

[Orange County Business Journal] – Dana Bartholomew