$1.3-Bil Purchase Makes CBL Properties 3rd-Largest Mall REIT

CHICAGO-A $1.3-billion sale of 23 shopping malls and associated centers closed Wednesday, transferring 19.2 million sf of retail space from Cleveland-based The Richard E. Jacobs Group to CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. of Chattanooga, TN. The sale makes CBL the largest owner of malls and shopping centers in the Southeast and the third-largest mall REIT in the US.

The size of the deal also may qualify for the record books. “I would certainly think it’d be in the top 10,” John R. Martin, Jr., vice president of corporate relations and marketing, tells GlobeSt.com. “The top five, I don’t know.”

The 23-center package includes six in Wisconsin, three each in Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio and South Carolina, two in Michigan, as well as one each in Illinois, Tennessee and Texas. The sale marks the CBL’s entry into Ohio, Martin said.