Retail developer Merlone Geier has acquired Stevenson Ranch Plaza, an outdoor mall in the Santa Clarita Valley anchored by a Ralphs supermarket, for $57.8 million, The Real Deal has learned.
The property, with the addresses of 24917, 24935, 24945, 24949, 24955, 24965 and 24975 Pico Canyon Road, spans 187,000 square feet and sits on an 18.8-acre site at the intersection of Old Road and Pico Canyon Road, according to Merlone Geier’s website. The sale of the asset closed on Nov. 6, a deed filed in Los Angeles County records show.
The seller is Illinois firm InvenTrust Properties, which paid $72.5 million for the asset in 2016. At the time of the purchase, the property was 97 percent occupied. Other tenants at the site include LA Fitness, PetSmart and Guitar Center.
Merlone Geier is currently redeveloping former Sears stores in Southern California into large multifamily properties. In 2022, the firm announced plans for a $370 million residential conversion project of a shuttered Sears in Glendale. The site, at 236 North Central Avenue, housed a Sears store that operated for 85 years before closing down in 2020. Plans for the site call for a 682-unit residential complex with a 38,100-square-foot public park.
The company is also planning to convert a closed Sears site at the Buena Park Downtown Mall into a residential community with 1,176 apartments and 126 townhomes. The Buena Park Mall closed in 2020 after Sears shut down the location as part of a round of closures that included 100 stores nationwide.
Merlone Geier has invested in West Coast retail properties since the early ‘90s, according to its website. Its Southern California portfolio covers 26 properties, including NOHO West, a 340,300-square-foot mixed-use asset in North Hollywood, and the Village at Laguna Hills, a 67.6-acre site in Laguna Hills that’s currently under development.
Merlone Geier’s plans for Stevenson Ranch Plaza are unclear. The firm did not respond to a request for comment.