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SAN YSIDRO, CA-Los Angeles-based Westwood Financial Corp. has made a nice play along the border with the acquisition of San Ysidro Village, a 258,862-sf retail center. Westwood acquired the property from a partnership of Developers Diversified Realty, PREI and Coventry for $42.5 million. The property is located near the US/Mexico border at the juncture of the nation's busiest border crossing, according to a Westwood official. "San Ysidro Village is part of the dominant retail node for retailers in its submarket," says Joe Dykstra, executive vice president of Westwood Financial Corp. "There are over 40 million annual border crossings within walking distance of the property."Dykstra says his firm will look to capitalize on the foot traffic from Mexican nationals crossing the border to shop at American retailers. "We intend on capitalizing on this huge customer pool by heavily promoting the property on both sides of the border," he adds.The property is 90% leased at the time of sale. The shopping center counts Kmart, Ross Dress for Less, Marshalls, Carter's Children Wear, Osh Kosh B'Gosh, Nine West and Taco Bell among its major tenants. Dykstra says the firm will make announcements soon regarding capitalizing on both the US and Mexican customers who shop at the center. Developed in 1988 as a community shopping center, the property was repositioned first as an outlet mall and then later as power retail center. The San Ysidro area also counts the nearby Shops at Las Americas, a 560,000-sf outlet mall.Pete Bethea of Burnham Real Estate Oncor International's Retail Advisory Group represented both the buyer and seller in the deal. Joe Yetter of Grubb & Ellis has the leasing assignment at San Ysidro Village.