Centennial Buys Bayer’s Management Portfolio of Open-Air Retail

Centennial, a Dallas-based mall owner, has acquired the operating platform of Bayer Properties, a Birmingham, AL firm with a management portfolio of open-air, fashion, power and neighborhood shopping centers. 

Centennial will merge Bayer’s 8M SF portfolio of real estate management contracts into its 15M SF portfolio of malls. The merged company will continue to operate under the Centennial brand.

Terms of the acquisition of the management contract portfolio were not disclosed. According to report in TheBamaBuzz, Centennial is not acquiring any property in conjunction with the deal for the management contracts.

Bayer’s portfolio includes the Bridge Street Town Centre in Huntsville, AL; the Liberty Center in Cincinnati; The Summit and the Pizitz in Birmingham; and The Summit at Fritz Farm in Lexington, KY. Bayer also manages properties in Newman, GA; Lake Jackson, TX; Collierville, TN; Sterling VA; and Memphis.

Centennial positioned the acquisition as part of a transition from enclosed malls to a mixed-use strategy that includes open-air retail space.

“Centennial’s current portfolio consists primarily of enclosed malls in major markets that are well-positioned for or are currently under redevelopment. Successfully transforming these centers includes reducing the enclosed mall space and adding complementary open-air retail space as well as multifamily and independent living residences, hotels and offices, said Whitney Livingston, Centennial president, in a statement.

“Bayer has been an owner, operator and developer of open-air retail space for almost three decades. Its merchandizing, place-making, design and attention-to-detail are exceptional,” Livingston added.

“[We] share a similar vision for the future of retail real estate that will allow the combined firm to provide a wealth of solutions to complicated retail projects,” said Jami Wadkins, Bayer’s president, who will become the COO at Centennial.

The combined firms will manage 23M SF of property across 18 states. Bayer’s Birmingham office will become a regional office of Centennial, which also will maintain offices in Philadelphia, Chicago, Orange County and Lexington.

Centennial’s acquisition of Bayer Properties is part of a nationwide expansion that included the acquisition of The Shops at Willow Bend in Texas and Westland Mall in Florida. The company also secured management contracts for The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley in Center Valley, PA and The Shops at Montebello in California.

Centennial also delivers property management services through Centennial Advisory Services, its third-party property and asset management division.