A company led by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke bought a mall in the team's home city for $325 million in a deal that marks the latest disposition in global property owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield’s exit from the U.S. retail market.
The Kroenke Organization acquired The Village, an outdoor “lifestyle” center in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley area, Paris-based Unibail said in a statement Tuesday.
This is among the largest property sales of the past year in Los Angeles and comes after URW’s $537.5 million sale of its mall in nearby Arcadia, California, among the nation’s largest commercial deals of 2022.
The Village sale “is another step in the streamlining of our U.S. regional asset portfolio as part of our wider plan to radically reduce our financial exposure in the U.S., and demonstrates the continued investor interest in high quality assets with strong operating performance,” URW Chief Financial Officer Fabrice Mouchel said in the statement.
The mall was built in 2015 and spans nearly 600,000 square feet at 21720 Victory Blvd. in the Woodland Hills neighborhood.
Unibail officials said the transaction did not include the neighboring Westfield Topanga property, which has been under redevelopment during the past two years.
Sales Plan
Unibail said in 2021 it planned to sell off all 24 of its U.S. properties, valued at about $13 billion, by the end of 2023. The latest deal brings its proceeds to date from its U.S. sales to $1.1 billion, the company said.
Prior sales included two other Southern California properties during the past two years. URW sold a development parcel at its Westfield Promenade property in Woodland Hills for $150 million to a private investment group that included Kroenke’s company.
It also parted with a 50% stake in its Palisade apartment building at Westfield UTC in San Diego for $119 million to J.P. Morgan Chase, according to Unibail and public data.
Kroenke’s company has developed several retail, apartment and sports facilities over the past 40 years, most recently being the $5.5 billion SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California, the home venue of the NFL’s Rams and Chargers.
The company did not immediately respond to a request from CoStar News to comment on the latest mall purchase from URW.
The Kroenke Organization owns and operates retail centers in 39 states totaling 40 million square feet, according to the Unibail statement.