Eugene mall goes for $187.5 million.Byline: Joe Mosley The Register-Guard Valley River Center Valley River Center is a shopping mall located in Eugene, Oregon. As the largest shopping center south of Portland and north of San Francisco, this mall comprises over 130 local and national stores and restaurants. , the Eugene area's largest shopping mall, is the subject of its own after-Christmas sale. The 36-year-old regional shopping center shopping center, a concentration of retail, service, and entertainment enterprises designed to serve the surrounding region. The modern shopping center differs from its antecedents—bazaars and marketplaces—in that the shops are usually amalgamated into is being purchased for $187.5 million by The Macerich Company, which has managed Valley River for the past year. A deal with the mall's current owner - Grosvenor, a London-based property investment firm - is expected to close by mid-February, the companies confirmed Thursday. Macerich officials at the company's headquarters in Santa Monica Santa Monica (săn`tə mŏn`ĭkə), city (1990 pop. 86,905), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1886. Tourism and retailing are important, and the city has motion-picture, biotechnology, and software industries. , Calif., did not respond to telephone messages on Thursday about the Valley River purchase. However, Valley River Center General Manager Don Foster - himself a Macerich employee - said he expects the change in ownership to improve the mall's prospects. "We're changing from a day when it's (Grosvenor's) last regional mall in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. to a day when the center will be owned by a major (holder of shopping centers), with a footprint across the U.S.," Foster said. "The clout they bring ... will be significantly different than it's been in recent years. "That's where I look forward to them standing with us and discovering what we can accomplish together for the future." Macerich owns 75 regional malls nationwide; most of its holdings are in the West. The company specializes in acquiring and redeveloping regional shopping centers, although no specific plans for Valley River Center have been announced. The most pressing need for the Eugene mall is to find another department store to fill the space that will be left vacant when Macy's leaves its current location to move into the building now occupied by Meier & Frank. The Meier & Frank store will close later this year when Federated Connected and treated as one. See federated database and federated directories. Department Stores This is a list of department stores. In the case of department store groups the location of the flagship store is given. This list does not include large specialist stores, which sometimes resemble department stores. (which owns Macy's) completes its merger with May Department Stores The May Department Stores Company was a department store chain founded in 1877 by David May in Leadville, Colorado. Its headquarters moved to St. Louis, Missouri in 1905, and the company went public in 1911. (Meier & Frank's owner). A representative of Grosvenor acknowledged last year that discussions had been initiated with Nordstrom in an attempt to lure lure the skin-covered object which runs on a monorail on a Greyhound racing track and which the dogs are schooled to chase. The lure must be kept 30 to 40 ft ahead of the leading dog so that the field is stretched out. the high-end, Seattle-based chain to Eugene, but no recent progress has been reported. The hiring of Macerich last February to manage Valley River was seen by many as a probable first step toward sale of the mall. Macerich owns most of the malls it manages and has been in an acquisition mode. Last year, for example, the company purchased two malls in the Phoenix area, another in Fort Worth, Texas Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas, 18th-largest city in the United States[1], and voted one of "America’s Most Livable Communities. , and a portfolio that included interests in more than a dozen East Coast malls. Grosvenor, meanwhile, has been moving away from shopping center ownership by selling four other regional malls during the past 10 to 12 years. Valley River is the company's last regional mall holding, but the company will maintain a Eugene presence by retaining adjacent storefronts to the east and north of Valley River. "We won't be out of Valley River altogether," said David Olson, a senior vice president in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden for Grosvenor. Regardless of its immediate plans, Macerich's ownership is expected to lead not only to the eventual renovation of Valley River but also the potential addition of high-profile tenants. "Maybe it will mean better stores, because Macerich has a lot more buying power Buying Power The money an investor has available to buy securities. In a margin account, the buying power is the total cash held in the brokerage account plus maximum margin available. Also referred to as "Excess Equity. , in terms of various malls throughout the United States," said Tim Campbell, owner of Campbell Commercial Real Estate and a top retail leasing agent in the Eugene area. "Maybe they'll be a little more aggressive on (lease) deals," Campbell said. Macerich said in its announcement of the purchase agreement that it expects a first-year return of about 6.6 percent on its cost for the 916,000-square-foot mall. Annual sales by tenants total about $420 per square foot, the company said. Valley River Center opened in 1969, heralded as the largest shopping mall between Portland and San Francisco. The Bon Marche building - currently Macy's - was added in the late 1980s. The newest addition - a $10.5 million movie theater multiplex See multiplexing. is being built this year on the site of the former Montgomery Wards. CAPTION(S): New ownership of Valley River Center by The Macerich Company is expected to lead to the eventual renovation of the mall. A $10.5 million movie theater multiplex is being built this year at the former Montgomery Ward site. |
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