Principal Robert Scanlan of the Portland firm tells GlobeSt.com that the joint venture bought the 164,703-sf Santa Fe Springs shopping center for $19.67 million and the 160,051-sf Crenshaw Imperial center in Inglewood for $9.83 million from the REIT. The joint venture expects to close this week on the 76,744-sf Margarita Plaza in Huntington Park, which it has agreed to buy for $8.2 million.

All three properties are fully leased grocery and drugstore-anchored, Scanlan says, noting that such centers are favorites among lenders today. "When debt gets this attractive, it's easier to get equity because we can give equity a higher return on its money," Scanlan says.

The shopping center acquisitions are the latest in a series of Southern California deals for SKB and the Praedium Group, which recently bought a 213,752-sf, 16-story office building in downtown Los Angeles at 800 Wilshire Blvd. for $21.85 million.