Federal Realty Buys San Jose Mall
Rockville, Md.–based Federal Realty Investment Trust has purchased the Westgate Mall in San Jose, Calif., from San Francisco– based M&H Realty Partners for $97 million in cash.
The real estate investment trust, which had primarily been operating in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast markets, relocated Chief Investment Officer Jeff Berkes to the Bay Area of California in January and now has five retail properties in the South Bay region.
“This demonstrates [our] commitment to increasing our operating platform in strategic metropolitan California markets, thereby allowing us to better leverage our West Coast team based in San Jose,” said Federal Realty Chief Executive Officer Donald C. Wood in a statement.
The 640,000-square-foot Westgate Mall is currently 98 percent leased. The tenant list includes Target, Burlington Coat Factory, Ross Dress For Less, Nordstrom Rack, Any Mountain Sporting Goods and Old Navy.
The 44-year-old shopping center was renovated in 1995. There are 190,000 residents with an average household income of $101,000 within three miles of the mall.
With the acquisition of the Westgate Mall, Federal Realty now operates more than 1.3 million square feet in the South Bay. The REIT’s other South Bay properties include Santana Row, a new 529,000-square-foot super-regional lifestyle center in San Jose; Old Town Center, a 90,000-square-foot center in Los Gatos; and Kings Court, an 80,000- square-foot grocery-anchored community retail center in Los Gatos; and a smaller property in San Francisco.
Federal Realty now owns 62 shopping centers and 49 additional retail properties across the country.
—Robert McAllister
