Ridgedale Center has new ownership.
CBRE Global Investors is investing in a partnership with Brookfield Property Partners, forming a joint venture that will own Minnetonka's Ridgedale and a pair of other "super-regional malls," including the Cumberland Mall in northwest Atlanta and the Parks Mall at Arlington between Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas.
Until this week the portfolio had been owned by General Growth Properties (GGP), which was acquired Tuesday by Toronto-based Brookfield — the second-largest mall owner in the United States — for about $15 billion.
Though brick-and-mortar retail hasn't attracted much investor attention, class A malls are bucking a retail rout and are thriving. The three properties have a combined 3.7 million square feet of retail space that's 98 percent leased thanks to a strong mix of national and regional retailers. Ridgedale is home to Macy's, J.C. Penney, Sears and Nordstrom.
David Morrison, CIO-Americas, CBRE Global Investors, said in a statement that class A super-regional malls are one of the most attractive investments available.
"These assets have a historic track record of material outperformance, dominating their retail catchment within their submarkets, and we expect that assets of this quality and scale should maintain that advantage going forward," he said. "The opportunity to invest in this sector in scale with this level of quality was very attractive, and we look forward to partnering with Brookfield on this portfolio."
CBRE Global Investors manages about $23 billion in retail assets around the world. Brookfield Properties Retail Group is headquartered in Chicago and is owned by Brookfield Asset Management.
GGP's operations and leasing teams will continue as the property manager and leasing agent. The company has owned Ridgedale since 2004. In addition to Ridgedale, GGP owns the Apache Mall in Rochester, the Crossroads Center in St. Cloud and River Hills Mall in Mankato.
