Vestar, UBS Global Pay $87M for LA Retail Center

By Keith Loria, Contributing Editor

Vestar, in a joint venture with a UBS Global Asset Management fund, has acquired Peninsula Center, a 300,000-square-foot retail center in Los Angeles County from Principal Real Estate Investors for $87.3 million in an all cash transaction.

“It was a value added investment in a tight coastal market,” Jeff Axtell, Vestar’s vice president of acquisitions and development, told Commercial Property Executive. “We plan to implement a program that will upgrade and enhance the landscaping and site amenities in the short term. We will reposition the center to bring in new tenants to make it the dominant center in the trade area.”

Located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in the affluent city of Rolling Hills Estates, Peninsula Center is situated on 24.7 acres along Hawthorne Boulevard, the South Bay’s primary north-south thoroughfare. With 57,000 vehicles passing by each day, it offers tremendous exposure and identity.

According to Axtell, the transaction fits in with the company’s strategy as it looks to acquire Class A properties in Class A markets that are the dominant center in the trade area. During the next 18 months, the company will remodel and combine shop spaces to bring in larger junior anchor stores as well as create better circulation throughout the project. It will also upgrade the center with new landscape and amenities.

The center is currently 88 percent leased anchored by tenants Vons Pavilions, Rite Aid and TJ Maxx. Other nationally recognized tenants include Spectrum Health Club, Pier 1 Imports, and Petco.

“The neighborhood has fantastic demographics and when we provide the quality environment and tenant mix in our plan, the neighborhood will embrace the center as their community gathering place,” Axtell said. “We will be creating more identity and focal points for the anchor stores.”

The acquisition marks the firm’s second Southern California retail center acquisition since September, when Vestar purchased Riverside Plaza for $84.84 million.

The Eastdil Secured team of Christopher Hoffman, Rikki Keating and Thao Tran represented the seller in the transaction. Vestar represented itself in the transaction.

Vestar currently owns and/or manages in excess of 22 million square feet of retail assets.

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