Suburban Centers Command $39M

MOORPARK, CA-Safco Capital Corp. of Los Angeles has acquired the 243,000-sf Mission Bell Plaza here for nearly $25.5 million and Sussex Capital Group has purchased a 100,000-sf center in Palmdale for $14 million, according to Reza Investment Group (RIG) of Irvine, which brokered both sales. Company founder Reza Etedali tells GlobeSt.com that the sales are among $100 million of grocery-anchored retail properties to close in the past month in Los Angeles and Orange counties and the Inland Empire.

Mission Bell Plaza is at 301-593 W. Los Angeles Ave. and is anchored by an Albertsons supermarket. Safco bought the property from Mission Bell Plaza Phase 1 LLC and Mission Bell Plaza Phase II LLC, based in Newport Beach, in a transaction brokered by Etedali and Ramez Barsoum of RIG. The shopping center occupies 25 acres and includes tenants such as Mavericks Sports Club/Movie Theater, Auto Zone, Radio Shack and El Pollo Loco. In addition, this property includes an empty, 108,000-sf former Kmart that Etedali says will be subdivided and already has attracted significant interest from potential tenants. The center was built in the late 1980s and was 98% occupied at the time of the sale, except for the vacant Kmart building.

In the Palmdale transaction, Woodland Hills-based Sussex bought the 100,000-sf Gateway Center at 1703-1823 Palmdale Blvd. from LBZ LLC of Westlake Village in a transaction brokered by Etedali and Barsoum. The shopping center's major tenants include Vallarta Supermarket, Downey Savings, Blockbuster Video and Subway. The property, which was sold by the original developer, was 94% occupied at the time of the sale. The closings of these two properties and the sale of two other grocery-anchored centers in Orange County for nearly $60 million, Etedali says, are evidence that grocery-anchored centers remain a favorite choice of investors.