THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, November 30, 1994 TAG: 9411300422
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MYLENE MANGALINDAN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake is on the selling block and has a buyer.
Homart Development Co., the realty arm of national retailer Sears, Roebuck and Co., and another real estate professional involved in the transaction confirmed the 100-acre mall's pending sale.
``I can confirm that it is on the market and it is under contract,'' said Kevin Caulfield, Homart's marketing manager.
Caulfield declined to reveal the mall's buyer or the price tag for the shopping center, but local real estate sources estimate its cost in the millions.
The Chesapeake mall, built by Homart at a cost of $50 million in 1981, is the third-largest enclosed shopping center in South Hampton Roads.
Chicago-based Homart owns or manages 40 malls nationwide. It has built 87 million square feet of commercial space, including office buildings, but 95 percent of its portfolio consists of shopping centers.
Schroder Real Estate Associates, a New York-based commercial real estate firm, represents the slated buyer, said Leanne Lachman, Schroder managing director.
``Yes, a closing is pending,'' Lachman said. ``A closing is scheduled for the first week of January.''
She would not reveal the identity of her firm's client but said Schroder represents a variety of clients including pension funds and other large institutional investors.
Greenbrier Mall, Chesapeake's first enclosed shopping center, anchors the city's biggest retail strip, a Greenbrier Parkway corridor crowded with stores and shopping centers.
Caulfield said the sale of a property like Greenbrier Mall is not unusual.
``We're constantly looking at our portfolio to determine the best use of our assets,'' he said. ``From time to time, we sell a property and the proceeds from the sale are reinvested in other projects. It's one way of financing growth in the company.''
Homart does not typically retain a property through its entire life, ``especially with REITs somewhat popular now as a buyer is looking at a mature, income-generating properties,'' Caulfield said. REITs are real estate investment trusts, which have proliferated in the 1990s as groups of investors banded together into REITs to buy commercial buildings.
The sale of Greenbrier Mall is unrelated to Sears' belt-tightening actions in previous months, which included spinning off its Allstate Corp. insurance division and the sale of its trademark office tower in Chicago.
Speculation continues that Sears will divest itself of Homart, but that has no effect on Homart's actions, Caulfield said. Although no one has offered to buy the real estate division, ``Their (Sears) strategy is to sell Homart to an investment group or some other investor,'' he said. by CNB