WorldCo Selling Factoria Mall for $102M

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BELLEVUE, WA-A 50-50 joint venture that includes the publicly traded retail REIT Kimco Realty Corp. is under contract to acquire the 525,856-sf Factoria Mall here from WorldCo Co. Ltd. of San Francisco. The sale price is $102 million, according to a statement by New Hyde Park, NY-based Kimco. Target, Mervyns, Safeway and Old Navy anchor the development.WorldCo had the 42-acre property entitled for an additional 51,000 sf of retail space and 685 residential units two years ago and approval for an additional 100,000 sf of retail is expected by next summer, according to a source at the City of Bellevue. The approvals were a compromise from a $100-million master plan designed by locally based MulvannyG2 architects that called for the addition of 850 residential units, 100,000 sf of office space, 75,000 sf of retail and a 35,000-sf community center, according to the source.Another source tells GlobeSt.com that Mulvanny will “re-evaluate” the entire project for Kimco once the sale is completed. Kimco did not provide an expected close date in its statement issued earlier this week and a company executive could not be reached Wednesday for comment.MulvannyG2 previously designed aesthetic upgrades of the existing mall that have been implemented over the past several years, including new flooring and new lighting, sidewalks and storefronts. The remodel helped attract Old Navy, Oshkosh, PetCo and Payless Shoe Source to the mall. As of August, the mall was 97% leased.WorldCo bills itself as an office, shopping center and residential real estate consulting, development, investment and management company. The company’s general partner is Anthony Chan, a director of both the Hong Kong and China Gas Co. and the holding company for United Commercial Bank, a Bay Area-based bank serving the Chinese community. Chan did not return a phone call seeking comment. Kimco specializes in shopping center acquisitions, development and management. It owns and operates one of the nation’s largest portfolios of neighborhood and community shopping centers. The company holds interests in 750 properties comprising approximately 112 million sf of leasable space in 42 US states, Canada and Mexico. In its announcement of the pending acquisition, Kimco did not name its joint venture partner. However, it did announce closing several other retail acquisitions through its joint venture with GE Real Estate. It also announced that PL Retail, its joint venture with DRA Advisors, has completed its $1.2-billion acquisition of Price Legacy Corp.’s 7.7-million-sf retail portfolio. (For that story, click here.)The disposition assignment for Factoria Mall is being brokered by Colliers International.