GlobeSt.com UPDATE: Philip Morris Selling Gottschalks Leaseholds

SAN FRANCISCO-Three California leasehold properties net leased to the Fresno, CA-based Gottschalks Inc. department store chain are on the market for a combined price of $27.3 million. The properties are a 90,000-sf department store in East Hills Mall in Bakersfield, a 90,000-sf department store in Sherwood Mall in Stockton and the company’s 420,000-sf warehouse and distribution facility in Madera. All three of the original 20-year leases expire in August 2009. Gottschalks has several five-year renewal options, but all three leases are tied together in a joint trust arrangement whereby Gottschalks must renew all of the leases or none of the leases. Gottschalks CFO Gregory Ambrose tells GlobeSt.com the company is hoping to find a new partner willing to un-tie the properties. “We have three different properties and three different strategies and having them all joined at the hip makes it complicated,” says Ambrose. “Our ultimate goal would be to un-bundle the transaction and deal with three separate entities.”The offering information didn’t reveal the seller of the leasehold interests, but sources tell GlobeSt.com it is Philip Morris Capital Corp., a Stamford, CT-based wholly owned subsidiary of Altria Corp., which last year changed its name from Philip Morris Cos. Philip Morris Capital Corp.’s portfolio consists of leveraged and direct finance leases and other tax-oriented financing transactions and third-party financings. Ken Ehrlickman, director of asset management for Philip Morris Capital Corp., declined comment on why the leasehold interests were being marketed for sale. According to the company’s Web Site, the company shifted its strategic focus in 2003 from an emphasis on the growth of its portfolio of finance leases to one of maximizing investment gains and generating cash flows from its diversified portfolio of leased assets. The disposition assignment is in the hands of GVA Worldwide Investments, specifically James Murphy with GVA Williams in New York and Tim Mason of GVA Whitney Cressman of San Francisco. GVA’s offering information states that Gottschalks’ current combined rent for the properties is $3.5 million per year, paid half-yearly in advance. There are three five-year renewal options at the lesser of 80% of the previous average rents paid ($2.6 million) or fair market value, then three more five-year renewal options at 100% fair market value. The un-leveraged initial return is 13% through 2009 and, assuming a renewal, 9.7% after that, according to the offering. Philip Morris’ leasehold interest in the Stockton location runs out in 2021 and its leasehold interest in the Bakersfield and Madera properties ends in 2039, according to the offering. Gottschalks owns the land in Bakersfield and Madera but not in Bakersfield.The properties were all built in 1988, according to the offering. Gottschalks’ SEC filings make mention of a December 1988 agreement relating to the sale-leaseback of all three properties that included General Foods Credit Investors No. 2 Corporation and Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company of California. It wasn’t clear exactly how Philip Morris Capital Corp. came to own the leasehold interests, but it could be related to Philip Morris Cos.’ acquisition of General Foods in 1985.