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A real estate investment firm has purchased the 41-year-old Palm Desert shopping center and announced plans to redevelop the assets with housing, green space, entertainment and other mixed-use offerings.
Pacific Retail Capital Partners, a Los Angeles-based company that owns several shopping centers across the country and recently acquired several more with redevelopment plans, announced its acquisition of the mall on Thursday. The value and condition of the shopping center were revealed.
The mall, recently known as the Shops at Palm Desert after a call renovation in 2022, had been for sale since last summer when its former owner Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield announced it would sell its premises to pay off its debt.
It currently has about 100 outlets and is the largest shopping mall within a 60-mile radius, according to its website. Current major outlets include Macy’s, JCPenney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Barnes.
After peaking in the 1990s and early 200s, grocery shopping at malls nationally has seen a decline due to the rise in online grocery shopping, further accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The PRCP says it aims to respond to this decline through “redevelopment. “houses to free the price from the underlying dirt. “
The company said in a press release announcing the sale that it plans to “conceptualize, design, and expand a state-of-the-art master plan for the 72-acre assets that will make it a colorful mixed-use destination and create an iconic civic gathering place. “which contributes to the existing character of the Coachella Valley. While many PRCP projects involve removing parts of existing malls while keeping others in place, the company did not say whether any decisions had been made on which portion of the existing mall will remain and the company has not come up with an express timeline for expansion.
PRCP owns and has redeveloped other shopping centers in Southern California, adding Plaza West Covina and Parkway Plaza in El Cajon, and said its knowledge of the market’s lifestyle, personal tastes and retail expectations will allow it to drive the redevelopment. from the shopping center.
The company’s chief financial officer, Oscar Parra, said in the release that there has been a fundamental shift in the way retail owners and operators access new markets and that his company is for communities that perceive the retail landscape to have changed dramatically over the past 20 years. years. .
“Instead of simply accelerating the production of goods and services, these cities are asking, ‘What do we accelerate?’ he said. For many markets, the answer lies in housing, green space and non-unusual spaces – or mixed-use destinations. that create an environment for citizens to live, work and play, and cities choose to marry us thanks to our extensive experience in designing viable real estate for the future.
In a statement, Palm Desert City Manager Todd Hileman said the city welcomes PRCP’s acquisition of the mall and is positive about the potential redevelopment.
“This significant investment aligns with our city’s long-term expansion goals and reflects the confidence developers have in Palm Desert’s economic energy,” he said. “Our team is eager to review Pacific Retail’s upcoming plans and see how they will be implemented. “Contribute to the overall improvement of our community’s business landscape. “
Mayor Kathleen Kelly said Thursday that she feels positive about the mall’s new owner, adding that it’s still “in the early stages” of redevelopment.
Kelly said the city has been tracking activity at the mall, which opened in 1982, but its efforts intensified about three years ago to ensure that any transitions over the next decade are “thoughtful and consistent with the city’s other goals. “
Kelly noted that the city purchased the former Sears assets to ensure they “will be at the table” when decisions are made.
Last year, the city also commissioned a study to understand local market calls for new residential, hospitality and retail uses in Palm Desert. The Streetsense study identified some prospects for housing at the mall, with a market call for 194 apartments expected through 2031, as well as capacity for some condominiums, hotel rooms and other commercial spaces.
Kelly said the city was encouraged by the study’s findings, noting that other spaces had already noticed similar good luck in redeveloping their malls.
“Locations that have been combined with residential or hospitality destinations, their recreational and entertainment destinations continue to thrive as those uses attract more people to the site for existing retail sales,” Kelly said.
“We are committed to ensuring that a significant component of retail remains part of the mall,” he added. “It will be anything other people need forever, even when online sales reach their full potential. “
Any plans for new housing or other primary structure at the mall will have to go through public meetings with the city council to be approved, Kelly said, adding that the timeline will depend in large part on broader economic dynamics.
“It’s more of an economic problem than administrative hurdles,” Kelly said. “We all know that there are very divergent forecasts about where the economy will evolve next year and where interest rates will evolve. These things are going on to influence the availability of investment for prospective developers.
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This article originally published in the Palm Springs Desert Sun: Palm Desert Mall sold to company with major redevelopment projects