KANSAS CITY—As reported in GlobeSt.com last month, BIGShopping Centers USA just made its first acquisition in Kansas City. AndStanley L. McElroy, Jr., president of the BeverlyHills, CA-based subsidiary of BIG ShoppingCenters, now tells GlobeSt.com that in addition to KansasCity, the company also plans to expand even further into theMidwest, and has set its sights on centers in Omaha andMinneapolis.

“We're not a value-add investor,” he says, looking to dorenovations and make quick sales. “We place our equity in placeswhere we intend to stay for a long period of time,” and that meansthe company “wants to focus on areas where we think there is thelong-term potential for job growth.”

Currently, most of the company's investments have been nearcoastal markets and in cities like Atlanta and Dallas. “But wedon't have to invest there, or in a DC, Boston, Los Angeles or NewYork,” McElroy says. For example, the company began making biginvestments in Pittsburgh once the depressed steel town begandiversifying its economy into banking, medicine, higher educationand other sectors. “The city did a complete 180.”