Southgate Plaza Sells for $62M

The transaction was facilitated by Rockwood Realty Associates LLC, a diversified real estate investment banking firm based in New York, on behalf of Lend Lease. The class A, 425,841-sf property is anchored by three of the region's strongest department stores: Burdines, Dillard's and Saks Fifth Avenue. The property was 97.8% leased, with 93.1% of inline gross leasable area leased at the time of the sale.

Southgate Plaza has more than 39 in-line mall shops and retail kiosks. Among the several other notable national tenants are Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Talbots, Victoria's Secret, Chico's, Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, The Gap and Gap Kids. Southgate Plaza's tenants generated about $109.4 million in mall-wide sales in 2001 and in-line sales of $437 per sf.

The mall was built in 1957 as an open-air strip mall, enclosed in 1988 and renovated in 1997. In 1996 to 1997, the 40,000-sf Saks replaced a Publix grocery store there, and an additional 19,000 sf in gross leasable area was added.

Investor interest in the property, located at the corner of Tamiami Trail (U.S. Highway 41) and Bee Ridge Road in an affluent area of Florida's Gulf Coast, was strong. Three major arteries--Interstate 75, 41 and Bee Ridge Road--run near the shopping center. Southgate Plaza is the only upscale center in the marketplace.

"The center provides a good geographic fit with our three existing Shoppingtowns in Florida, is well-located in one of the fastest-growing markets in the U.S. and has both near-term and longer-term expansion potential," Westfield managing director Peter Lowy says in a statement.

Westfield America Trust is the second-largest property trust listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. This purchase increases the company's portfolio to four regional centers in the Tampa area. The other centers are Westfield Shoppingtowns Brandon in Brandon, Citrus Park in Tampa and Countryside in Clearwater.