News
BUCKET LIST
August 1, 2011
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| Need a new set of armor? Maybe you'll find one at a necessity-based shopping center, which is luring both investors and lenders to its hardy sector. Westwood Financial made its second acquisition in Chicago last week, buying the 136k SF Dominick's-anchored Sanders Court in Northbrook. Here's why: Sanders Court has survived the recession, coming out 99% leased and even adding new tenants in the worst of times, says Westwood's Joe Dykstra. Lenders love 'em too—Westwood paid cash for the property, but then financed a loan for itself through Aetna Life Insurance. | |
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| The 25-year-old center falls into the institutional bucket of Westwood's barbell approach to buying. The firm plans to buy lots of high-quality, well-leased space to hold for the long-term and an equal amount of value-add product to reset rents, introduce new tenants, and sell in the short term. Often, overpricing of rents is the only thing keeping a center from leasing up, says Joe (snapped byBisnow Atlanta next to a camera-hogging, diva lamp). He tells us Westwood has a big appetite for those two buckets and has its eye on two other Midwestern properties, including another Chicago area center. | |
