Included in the deal is a 50% stake in the 2-million-sf Tysons Corner Center in McLean, VA, the highest-profile property owned by Rochester, NY-based Wilmorite. Bloomingdales, Hecht's, LLBean, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom anchor that center. Macerich officials have said they could expand that mall, possibly adding high-rise residential towers.

The other super-regional centers on the East Coast that Macerich bought are the 1.5-million-sf Freehold (NJ) Raceway Mall and the 1.3-million-sf Danbury (CT) Fair Mall. The average sales per-sf of Tysons, Freehold and Danbury are $525. Officials also said there are expansion opportunities at Freehold.

Currently Macerich, based in Santa Monica, owns one East Coast gem, the Queens (NY) Mall, a center that it recently expanded at a cost of $275 million, but the majority of its centers are on the West Coast and in the Southwest. The remainder of the Wilmorite deal is made up of centers in upstate New York and Kentucky, and the total portfolio's sales per-sf are $403.