Westfield Palm Desert owners looking to sell mall
The Westfield mall in Palm Desert could be under new ownership soon.
A spokesperson for Westfield that the mall's lender is looking to transition management of the property to a third-party and sell Westfield Palm Desert.
The mall will remain open during this transitional period, the spokesperson confirmed.
A Westfield spokesperson confirmed the move in a statement to News Channel 3:
"The lender is seeking to transition management to a third-party receiver and sell Westfield Palm Desert in Palm Desert, CA. Any potential future sale of the asset would support our strategy to rebalance our portfolio and divest certain assets to reshape how people shop, live, work and play. During the transition period ahead, the center will remain open and operating to serve the local community."
The Palm Desert mall is owned by the Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Group, a European based real estate company that owns malls across the word, including 25 in the United States.
This comes just hours after the Wall Street Journal reported that Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield is looking to unload its mall assets as the company attempts to shrink its debt.
Reuters reported in February that Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield was looking to cut its U.S. exposure to close to zero.
“At the end of the day, the exposure to the U.S. will be minimal, if not zero,” said Jean-Marie Tritant, the company's chief executive, during a call with journalists.
The company sold off three U.S. malls last year.
Stay with News Channel 3 for continuing updates.
