JV of Prudential, Pacific Castle to Invest $500M

IRVINE, CA-Locally based retail specialist Pacific Castle and New Jersey-based Prudential Real Estate Investors have formed a joint venture to acquire $500 million worth of retail properties in the West. Rod Astarabadi, president of Pacific Castle, tells GlobeSt.com that the new JV will give Pacific Castle a competitive edge by enabling it to close quickly on deals and by providing “a very strong financial partner.”

The joint venture will be looking for deals in the range of $25 million to $100 million, with its sweet spot at about $50 million, Astarabadi says. The new venture will consider both value-added and stabilized deals “as long as the property offers the upside that we look for, of an IRR in the mid-teens or better,” the Pacific Castle president tells GlobeSt.com.

Astarabadi calls the JV “a unique platform” that will enable the Irvine-based firm to close deals in as little as 10 days, and to acquire a single property or large portfolios on an all-cash basis. The JV, which runs through the year 2013, plans to acquire the properties over the next several years and will concentrate on assets in California and Nevada.