Starwood Capital Group, a private investment firm from Connecticut, has purchased the Kitsap Mall and some surrounding properties.
The sale was announced Thursday by Starwood and its partner company Starwood Retail Partners.
Officials of the company did not disclose terms of the sale, but records at the Kitsap County Assessor’s office indicate the mall was sold for $111 million. Papers were filed with the county and the state earlier this week.
The Macerich Company of California, a national mall developer and owner, is the seller. Macerich announced in February of this year that the mall was for sale.
Along with the mall, Kitsap Place, which houses T.J.Maxx, Michael’s and some other smaller stores, was sold to Starwood for $9.5 million. Four buildings across from the mall to the north on Randall Way, called North Point at Kitsap, were sold for $6.5 million.
Officials at Macerich in California and Starwood’s offices in Chicago, did not return calls on Friday.
Kitsap Mall is the only regional mall on the Kitsap Peninsula and contains 700,000 square feet of retail space. The mall opened in 1985 and Macerich has owned it since 1999 when they paid $70 million for the property.
Prior to this sale, national real estate brokers listed the mall and the other properties that were included in the sale at a value of $175 million. The actual selling price was $127 million.
Kitsap Mall Senior General Manager Erin Leedham said she could not comment on the sale and referred calls to the new owners.
On Friday the mall’s website had been updated to show that the mall is owned by Starwood Properties. New leasing agents names and contacts were listed.
Kathleen Hale, manager of Hale’s Alehouse at the mall, said she became aware of the change in ownership earlier in the week when flyers were delivered to all mall merchants letting them know.
“We received a flyer and we had a conversation with the mall manager,” Hale said. “We’ve known that the mall was for sale for several months so we weren’t surprised.
Hale looks at the sale as a positive.
“It’s new blood,” she said. “Obviously they’ve made a substantial investment and I’m sure they’ve got some ideas about revitalizing the mall.”
Hale said she hadn’t yet met with any of the new owners and she said there wasn’t much discussion amongst store owners or customers about the sale.
According to real estate publications, in December 2012 Macerich placed several of their low-performing malls for sale, including Kitsap Mall. Macerich at that time was focused on their high-end, higher quality malls.
The sale to Starwood Capital Group was handled by the Jones Lang LaSalle firm of Chicago.
According to its website, the Starwood Capital Group is a private investment firm that has a global real estate portfolio, including office, retail, residential, senior housing, resorts and industrial assets.
Starwood Retail Partners is its retail real estate group that acquires, redevelops, manages and repositions retail real estate assets in order to enhance property cash flow and create long-term value for its capital partners.
The Kitsap Mall was built by the Winmar Co., the real estate branch of Safeco, a Seattle-based financial services firm.
Starwood officials have announced via their website that the onsite management of the Kitsap Mall will remain in place.
