An Ohio-based real-estate investment trust acquired 30 shopping centers nationwide, including three on the Gulf Coast, in a $1.46 billion deal announced late yesterday.
The REIT, Beachwood, Ohio-based DDR Corp., had owned parts of the centers in a joint venture agreement with Blackstone Group LP, a New York-based private equity firm, according to a release. But in what DDR officials call an effort to generate significant cash flow, the firm acquired Blackstone’s 95% ownership stake in 30 of the centers, spread from Minnesota to Texas. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
The Gulf Coast properties DDR bought include:
• Lake Walden Square, Plant City: Center is 257,000 square feet and includes a Premier Cinemas and a PetSmart scheduled to open this summer;
• Carillon Place, Naples: Center is 283,000 square feet and includes a Walmart Neighborhood Market, Total Wine & More and a Pier 1 Imports;
• Lake Brandon Village, Brandon: Center is 244,000 square feet and includes a Lowe’s, PetSmart and Buybuy Baby.
“We are very pleased to add these outstanding assets to our wholly-owned portfolio,” DDR Corp. CEO Daniel Hurwitz says in the release regarding the entire transaction. “It was our goal to accomplish this upon the initial formation of the venture with Blackstone, and we thank them for being outstanding partners. We look forward to our continued relationship.”
There are 14 other centers in the joint venture that weren’t part of this deal, according to the statement. Those centers will remain 95% owned by Blackstone, 5% by DDR and DDR will continue to manage and lease those properties.
