NewMark Merrill Buys $19M Center

UPLAND, CA-NewMark Merrill Cos. of Woodland Hills has acquired the 105,000-sf Upland Town Square shopping center from Santa Ana-based Passco Real Estate Enterprises for $19.1 million, according to principals of the two companies. The property occupies a site on the northwest corner of Foothill Boulevard and San Antonio Avenue, in middle of Upland. Sandy Sigal, president and CEO of NewMark Merrill, says the company plans to reposition the center, which was formerly anchored by a Ralphs Grocery Store. A new anchor "will significantly improve the center as well as have a significant impact on cash flow," Sigal says. He says that the property occupies a location "in an area that needs more quality retail space." The center, which was built in 1960, underwent major renovations in 1993 and 1995. William Winn, president of Passco, says the property's location is at an intersection where more than 49,000 cars pass by daily and is surrounded by a residential market in excess of 151,000 homeowners within a three-mile radius. Selling the Upland center will allow Passco to continue to add to its eight-million-sf portfolio of regional malls, multifamily and neighborhood centers, according to Winn. Passco, a tenant-in-common specialist, acquired the Upland center in 1997 and also managed the property. NewMark Merrill Cos. was founded by Sigal in 1984 and has acquired or developed more than 5.5 million sf of shopping centers in more than 30 cities. NewMark Merrill will manage the center and will also be responsible for all redevelopment, leasing, accounting and marketing for the center. Passco was represented in the sale by Phil Voorhees and Patrick Toomey of the Newport Beach office of CB Richard Ellis. NewMark Merrill was represented by a team that included Sigal, NewMark Merrill leasing and acquisitions director Jim Patton, and Long Beach-based Pacific Retail Partners' Mike Jensen and Ryan Sullivan.