The parcel of retail properties is spread out among states ranging from the Deep South to suburban New York. In New Orleans, LA, Mills now holds 100% interest in The Esplanade, and in Jackson, MS, the company now owns Northpark Mall. Broward Mall in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Dover Mall and Dover Commons in Dover, DE, and White Plains, NY-based Galleria at White Plains round out the five-property portfolio. "These traditional regional malls can be profitably enhanced with the 'Mills touch' into 21st century retail and entertainment destinations," company chairman and CEO Laurence C. Siegel explains in a written comment on the deal. "The acquisition also enables Mills to create additional upside value through key expansions and remerchandisings, and gives us new retailer relationships that can be cross-sold across the entire Mills portfolio.

Mills was crafty in pulling together funding for the multi-million dollar buy. It took on a pre-existing $62-million mortgage on Ft. Lauderdale's Broward Mall, and secured a new $320 million loan on the other four shopping centers. Remaining cash funds put on the table were culled from Mills' common and preferred stock offerings last December. As for acquisitions along these lines in 2003, the company is not ruling out anything. "We don't have a timeline," Mills Corp.'s David Douglass tells GlobeSt.com. "We look at opportunities as they come up, but we are still primarily a development company. If a terrific opportunity came up, we would look at it and evaluate it, and if it were the right deal, we would probably pursue it."