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| March 18, 2004 |
Kimco to Purchase Linda Mar
Group Makes Second Outdoor Mall Purchase Since Last Summer
By Tim Simmers, BUSINESS WRITER
Argus / Alameda Times Star / Oakland Tribune / Tri-Valley Herald / Daily Review
San Mateo County Times |
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PACIFICA -- Kimco Realty Corp. has agreed to purchase the Linda Mar neighborhood shopping center located across from the ocean along Highway 1 here. It's the group's second Peninsula outdoor mall acquisition since last summer.
Kimco bought the center anchored by Ross, Safeway and Rite Aid for $28.5 million from G.E. Capital, a subsidiary of General Electric.
Kimco plans to fill some vacancies at the center and complete construction on spaces that were not finished.
"It's a beautiful location, and we see it as an opportunity to bring in some new (tenants) and enhance it," said Scott Onufrey, Kimco vice president of investor relations.
He would not reveal how much the company will invest in the 185,000-square-foot center, which has space for about 42 stores.
"The biggest thing is if they'd rent some of these open spaces," said Trish Cottrell, owner of Linda Mar Florist.
About eight spaces are open at the center, "some of them quite large," said Cottrell, who has run her business there for 10 years. Cottrell complained that the center has been "sold again, for the second time in a couple of years."
"It hurts the merchants, because it raises our property taxes since the center gets reassessed every time it's sold," she said. Bill Khoury, owner of Sam's Deli in the center, hopes good things will happen with the new owners.
"I hope they put in some decent stores that bring more foot traffic," he said.
Kimco, which owns 560 shopping centers in the United States and Canada, has turned to the Peninsula for some of its recent purchases. The company is based in Hyde Park, N.Y., but has increased its staff in California and on the Peninsula.
In July, the company purchased 280 Metro Center in Colma for $59 million from RREEF-Funds, a San Francisco pension fund adviser. That center was a trend-setter, as one of the nation's first so-called "power centers." That retail term refers to an outdoor center featuring three or more anchor tenants and a number of name brand stores.
It is located across Highway 280 from the Serramonte shopping center in Daly City. Kimco has run Metro Center without making any major changes since its purchase. The outdoor mall is anchored by Marshalls, the Nordstrom Rack and Barnes & Noble.
In October 2002, Kimco purchased the Westlake Shopping Center in Daly City for $78 million from the San Mateo-based Westlake Development Co.
The company had planned to invest about $5 million in that center within a few years of the purchase. Both Westlake and 280 Metro Center are mostly full with tenants, Onufrey said.
"There's more demand for retail, and Kimco is expanding in the area," said Todd Oliver, partner with Terranomics, a retail division of BT Commercial. "They can spread their management here through more shopping centers."
Other Kimco properties in the Bay Area include the Magnolia Square shopping center in San Ramon and the group is part owner of the Fremont Hub.
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