Palm Desert’s Westfield Shoppingtown ‘Mum’ On Sale Rumors
Management would not confirm or deny rumors that the 28-year-old Westfield Shoppingtown was on the market to be sold on Friday.
Speculation first surfaced after a Wall Street Journal report in June that detailed Westfield’s plans to sell 17 of its properties. One of them was in Sacramento, where Westfield wanted to shift their attention to another more lucrative property there.
The WSJ said he sale of the Westfield portfolio will provide an important window into where values of the hundreds of malls throughout the country have reset. If the number of bidders is any indication, the news looks good for the seller.
Sydney, Australia-based Westfield, which owns 55 U.S. malls, put the 17 properties on the market in April as it aims to refocus itself on its most lucrative U.S. properties, the Journal reported. The 17 on the block mostly are considered B-grade malls, with annual sales of $300 to $380 a square foot. The industry average for enclosed malls is $351, according to Green Street Advisors Inc., a research firm that tracks real-estate investment trusts.
It still is not known if the Palm Desert, Calif., property is on the list.
