Highest price is paid for a mall in five years: $537.5 million

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield has taken a big step on its quest to depart the American mall business.

The France-based mall owner has sold the 1.5 million-sq.-ft. Westfield Santa Anita mall, in Arcadia, Calif., for $537.5 million dollars — the highest price paid for a mall since Brookfield Properties sold a 49% stake in Fashion Place near Salt Lake City for $594 million in 2018.

A press release from URW did not offer up the name of the buyer, only saying it was an “established commercial real estate investor who owns other retail assets in Southern California.”

Westfield Santa Anita is an A-rated property that is 96% leased and posts average sales of $611 per sq. ft., according to URW.

Last year the company, which acquired Westfield in 2018 and expanded its brand to Europe, announced the introduction of a comprehensive deleveraging program that includes the radical reduction of its financial exposure in the United States.

URW has made $900 million worth of disposals since 2021--a total that includes Westfield Santa Anita, the site of the Promenade Mall in California’s San Fernando Valley, the Palisade residential building in San Diego, and the ownership transfer of five other regional properties.

Westfield Santa Anita, which is close to the Santa Anita racetrack, opened in 1974 as Santa Anita Fashion Park. In 1998, Westfield acquired the mall and renamed it Westfield Shoppingtown Santa Anita.  “Shoppingtown” was dropped from its name in 2005.

Nordstrom, Macy’s, JC Penney, and AMC Theatres anchor the mall, which holds more than 130 retail brands.

Its more than 50 food and beverage tenants include The Cheesecake Factory, Benihana, Holy Crab, Ramen Nagi, and Sugarfina.