Investors buy majority stake in Westfield Vancouver mall

A partnership led by Texas-based USAA Real Estate has agreed to buy large stakes in five Westfield malls, including Westfield Vancouver, in a transaction that values the properties at a combined $1.1 billion, according to the industry website Real Estate Alert.

The reported deal includes $169.7 million for 465,000 square feet of commercial space owned by Westfield at the 913,000-square-foot Westfield Vancouver mall. Westfield owns space that houses mall anchors Cinetopia, H&M and Gold’s Gym, which occupies one floor of the former Nordstrom space. Anchor stores under separate ownership are Macy’s, Sears and JC Penney, according to the Real Estate Alert report.

USAA Real Estate is a unit of San Antonio insurer USAA. Its partners in the purchase are Montgomery Street Partners, a unit of San Francisco-based Blum Capital, and Centennial Real Estate of Dallas. That partnership and Westfield will form a joint venture that will buy the properties, Real Estate Alert reported.

The report did not address if or how the ownership change would affect operations or management at the mall, Clark County’s largest retail center.

Chris Yates, the mall’s marketing director, had no comment on the transaction.

The partnership will purchase 79 percent interest in Westfield Vancouver and three other malls: Westfield Connecticut Post in Milford, Conn., Westfield Hawthorn in Vernon Hills, Ill., and Westfield MainPlace in Santa Ana, Calif. It will also acquire a 49 percent stake in Westfield Fox Valley in Aurora, Ill.

Sydney, Australia-based Westfield will retain the remaining interest in the 6.2 million-square-foot portfolio.

Real Estate Alert said the Class-B properties are 97 percent occupied and have “respectable” sales that produce $85.7 million of net operating income on a combined $1.1 billion of annual sales.

The joint venture purchase will be financed with 40 percent equity and 60 percent debt, including $379.5 million of debt on the Connecticut Post, Hawthorn and Vancouver malls.