Brixton Capital Drops $100 Million for Whittier Mall

Another Los Angeles-area retail center traded hands.

Brixton Capital acquired The Quad at Whittier for $100 million, the Los Angeles Business Journal reported. The Solana Beach-based real estate investor and operator bought the nine-building, 315,000-square-foot property in Whittier from an unidentified seller, though the most recent owner of the 31-acre property was listed as TRC Retail, according to Yardi Matrix data cited by Commercial Property Executive.

The shopping center is currently 95.6 percent occupied, with tenants including Vallarta Supermarkets, Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, T.J. Maxx, Dollar Tree, Petco, Michaels, Five Below and Burlington.

Brixton plans to take on improvements at the property, upgrading common areas and outdoor spaces, said Brixton executive managing director of operations Kim Masayko. The goal is to “reinforce The Quad’s role as a community gathering place,” Masayko said. The mall is already well-positioned with a lower vacancy rate than the average grocery-anchored retail center in Los Angeles County, reported at 7 percent in the fourth quarter, according to Colliers.

In buying the Whittier shopping center, Brixton Capital’s retail space in Southern California expands to 1.2 million square feet. Brixton made the acquisition following a $250 million investment in the firm from an undisclosed alternative investment manager, according to the Business Journal.

Los Angeles and Orange Counties have seen several retail properties trade hands over the past year, including in the past month.

Last month, DJM Capital Group sold Gateway Center, a 79,001-square-foot property in Mission Viejo to an unnamed institutional investor in a $51 million all-cash deal. Also in January, Irvine-based West Hive Capital sold the Western Plaza shopping center in Rancho Palos Verdes to Aria Investments for $24.5 million.

In December, DJM Capital Group offloaded another shopping center, Village del Amo in Torrance, to an undisclosed buyer for $108.5 million. That same month, Space Investment Partners bought the 123,402-square-foot Topanga Gateway mall in Woodland Hills from family trust Anderson Holdings for $64 million. And in October, CenterCal Properties and DRA Advisors dropped $145 million to acquire the 870,000-square-foot Long Beach Towne Center from Phoenix-based mall giant Vestar.