Namdar Realty Group added another retail hub to its portfolio, this time in the Bay Area.
An affiliate associated with executives at the Great Neck, New York-based firm bought the Southland Mall in Hayward in an all-cash deal for $70 million, the Mercury News reported.
The seller was an affiliate of Brookfield Properties. The price works out to $64 per square foot.
Tenants of the 1.1 million-square-foot complex include Macy’s, JCPenney, Ross Dress for Less, Hobby Lobby and Cinemark. The mall’s only vacant anchor space was once occupied by a Sears that closed in 2020. Built in the 1960s, the Southland Mall’s retail spaces were built to accommodate Sears.
It’s the latest West Coast play for the Long Island-based investor, which has built a national portfolio by buying regional malls and shopping centers that other asset managers have ignored. Namdar’s value-added commercial real estate strategy involves minimal upfront investment followed by gradual upgrades to boost income and value.
Not everyone has embraced Namdar’s approach.
City officials in Citrus Heights, near Sacramento, attempted condemnation proceedings this summer against the portions of the Sunrise Mall owned by a Namdar affiliate. The city found “extensive violations” after community complaints in May.
Namdar also got into a fracas with Chicago suburb Calumet City this year, after the city tried to use eminent domain to take control of a mall redevelopment.
Brookfield marketed Southland Mall as having long-term fundamentals, citing strong freeway visibility and little competition in the area.
Besides that property, in the Bay Area, Namdar also owns the West Valley Mall in Tracy.
Halfway across the country, last month, Namdar picked up another distressed retail property: the 170,000-square-foot retail space at 1 North State Street in Chicago. The firm paid $8.3 million, or $49 per square foot, for the retail portion of the office building.
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