SUCCESSION OF OWNERS? PROPOSED SALE OF MEDIA CITY CENTER MAY JUST BE THE START.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

BURBANK - Media City Center could be in for a sudden string of new owners, real estate experts said Thursday.

San-Diego based Pan Pacific Retail Properties announced plans last week to acquire Center Trust, owners of the Media City Center and 32 other properties in four West Coast states. The $600 million acquisition is not expected to be completed until shareholders vote on an agreement early next year, Pan Pacific officials said.

The deal will bring 5.1 million square feet of space to Pan Pacific's portfolio, with Media City Center and the Baldwin Hills Plaza as the cornerstones. The 11-year-old Media City Center, a 1.5 million-square-foot traditional regional mall anchored by Macy's, Sears, Mervyn's and Ikea, had been scheduled for ambitious repairs under Center Trust's ownership. The expense of the redevelopment, combined with Pan Pacific's greater familiarity with open-air strip centers, led real estate expert James W. Sullivan of Prudential Securities to speculate it could be back on the sales block quickly.

``They plan on selling at least one, so I think they'll sell Media City Center right away,'' said Sullivan, managing director of the analyst firm's New York office. ``They're not major mall managers, so it's not really their area of expertise.''

Officials are uncertain if the deal will terminate plans to overhaul the mall's image, with improvements scheduled to begin at the end of the year.

``It's still too early for us to comment,'' said Pan Pacific spokeswoman Carol Merriman. ``We're hoping to close the deal in February.''

Center Trust officials believe Pan Pacific will continue remodeling the Media Center, said spokeswoman Elizabeth Saghi.

``They got a great deal,'' Saghi said. ``It's a great property, and I can't imagine them wanting to sell it off.''

Burbank City Manager Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom said General Growth Properties, which acquired the Glendale Galleria last month for $415 million, would be a possible buyer. The Chicago-based General Growth, a larger, more experienced mall operator, currently runs Media City Center as a third-party manager. Though the firm has been building its portfolio as of late, it would not comment on whether it hopes to pick up Media City Center.

The first phase of the proposed improvements include construction of a P.F. Chang's restaurant, and a paint job on the overall facade, Ovrom said. The second phase would include converting the three-level mall into two levels, with four big-box stores occupying the ground floor.

Staff writer Brent Hopkins contributed to this report