Peninsula Center sold for $87.3 million
Shoppers will enjoy a remodeled Peninsula Shopping Center sometime next year. Photo by David Rosenfeld
Phoenix-based Vestar finalized the purchase of the Peninsula Shopping Center last month for $87.3 million.
The 300,000-square-foot retail center on 24.7 acres had experienced a series of vacancies in recent years. After the center was put on the market last year, Vestar entered escrow on the property in the fall.
“We’ve been waiting on the peninsula for this for a while now,” said Susan Brooks, mayor of Rancho Palos Verdes who’s also working part-time to help promote the center.
Vestar bought the property from Principal Life Insurance through a joint venture with UBS Global Asset Management. Jeff Axtell, vice president of acquisitions and development, who lives in the area and works out of Vestar’s Long Beach office, said in a press release they were looking forward to enhancing the center.
“Peninsula Center is one of the premier retail centers in Los Angeles and we are excited to be adding it to our portfolio,” Axtell said in a press release. “The property provides Vestar with stable cash flow with excellent demographics.”
The acquisition marks Vestar’s second Southern California retail center acquisition in the past six months. In September 2012, the firm acquired Riverside Plaza for $84.84 million, according to the release.
“Peninsula Center provides us with a value-added investment opportunity in a tight coastal market,” said Rick Kuhle, president of Vestar. “Our goal is to significantly upgrade the center with new landscape and amenities while bringing in new retailers.”
Brooks said the new owners will likely embark on a remodel later next year in hope of bringing in larger anchor stores.
“This company coming in is really about enhancing a sense of community, and that’s what we want to do,” Brooks aid. “We want to make this a hot place for people to gather and have community activities.”
To that end, the center is offering weekly discounts and promotions on its Facebook page, Brooks said. On Saturday April 6 it serves as a rest stop in a bicycle ride for Habitat for Humanity.
Longstanding rumors of a sale put tenants in somewhat of a state of limbo. Erin Neal, who’s owned Palos Verdes Florist for the past 12 years, said tenants were concerned that a sale could bring the construction of new housing to the property, but they were assured that wasn’t the case.
“We’re looking forward to the improvements the new owners are going to be doing,” Neal said. ER