Principal Robert Scanlan of the Portland firm tells GlobeSt.com that the joint venture bought the 164,703-sf Santa Fe Springs shopping center for $19.67 million and the 160,051-sf Crenshaw Imperial center in Inglewood for $9.83 million from the REIT. The joint venture expects to close this week on the 76,744-sf Margarita Plaza in Huntington Park, which it has agreed to buy for $8.2 million.

All three properties are fully leased grocery and drugstore-anchored, Scanlan says, noting that such centers are favorites among lenders today. "When debt gets this attractive, it's easier to get equity because we can give equity a higher return on its money," Scanlan says.

The shopping center acquisitions are the latest in a series of Southern California deals for SKB and the Praedium Group, which recently bought a 213,752-sf, 16-story office building in downtown Los Angeles at 800 Wilshire Blvd. for $21.85 million.

The Scanlan group was in the running to acquire all the remaining Burnham Pacific centers last year for about $300 million, but that deal fell through. Nonetheless, the group was left with a big appetite for retail centers, and SKB expects to acquire more of them on the way toward its goal of growing a $1-billion portfolio by the end of 2003.

"We're close to $600 million now, and we have a $77-million center in our crosshairs that we're going to make an offer on in the Bay Area and a $30-million center in San Diego area," Scanlan says.

Scanlan tells GlobeSt.com that he feels "very comfortable" about the Portland company, which acts as a fiduciary for approximately 225 investors, reaching its $1-billion goal by the end of next year.