CBL Buys Panama City Mall for $46.5M; Breaks Ground on St. Augustine Center

ORLANDO-CBL & Associates Properties Inc. of Chattanooga, TN, largest owner of malls and shopping centers in the Southeast, has grown its 160-property, 57.3-million-sf portfolio in 25 states by 606,698 sf with the $46.5 million acquisition of the 87%-leased Panama City Mall, 250 miles northwest of Downtown Orlando.

At the same time, CBL is developing Cobblestone Village, a a 305,000-sf, 45-acre center in St. Augustine, FL, 100 miles north of Downtown Orlando and about 150 miles southeast of Panama City. Cobblestone Village has an expected spring 2003 opening.

In a cash-stock-debt deal, CBL paid Panama City Associates LLC $76.64 per sf for the 54-acre property at 23rd Street (State Road S-390A) and Cove Boulevard (State Road 77). Panama City Associates is an affiliated of Detroit-based Robert Aikens and Associates LLC. The property’s location was crucial in CBL’s acquisition decision.