Centennial buys Valencia Town Center from URW
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield keeps on divesting big retail properties and Centennial keeps on adding them.
Dallas-based Centennial—which operates 37 regional malls and open-air centers in 15 states since its acquisition of Bayer Properties last year—has acquired Westfield Valencia Town Center, a million-sq.-ft. property on 60 acres in California’s Santa Clarita Valley north of Los Angeles.
The reported sale price was $199 million.
“While it is too soon to announce any definitive plans, Valencia Town Center is in the perfect location to become a multi-use live-work-play destination that seamlessly and aesthetically combines retail, restaurants, entertainment, luxury living and office space,” said Centennial’s chief investment officer Carl Tash.
Anchored by Macy’s, JCPenney, and H&M, Valencia’s 100-plus retail tenants also include Apple Store, Pottery Barn, Sephora, Gold’s Gym, Lululemon, and White House Black Market.
Valencia counts 38 food and beverage establishments serving shoppers as well as workers from the biomedical, aerospace, and film production companies located in the valley. On the board are establishments including The Cheesecake Factory, Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que, Chick-fil-A, Larsen’s Steakhouse, Bunker Bar & Grill, and Lucille’s Sweet Factory.
Centennial has not been shy of picking up classic regional malls in active markets and undertaking renovations that answer local residents’ and town officials’ current needs and wants. The Dallas-based company added a 311-unit apartment complex at the half-century-old Hawthorn Mall in Vernon Hills, Ill., and is in the process of creating a streetscape lined with dining and entertainment tenants at the property now known simply as “Hawthorn.”
Nor is it averse energizing modern centers needing boosts. At Pacific City, an 8-year-old Center on Southern California’s Huntington Beach that did a big tourist business, Centennial installed a Surfing Walk of Fame and added local-appeal dining options that tripled visits from local residents.
“There is never anything cookie-cutter about what we do at Centennial. When we approach a redevelopment, it is always in partnership with the community, taking the community’s wants and needs into account,” said Steven Levin, founder and CEO of Centennial. “While we contemplate changes for Valencia Town Center, we will strive to maintain the essence of what this center has always been to the city of Santa Clarita.”
The center will henceforth be known simply as Valencia Town Center. Centennial also has plans to expand the property’s merchandising lineup and elevate the center’s look with property enhancements.