Taubman Maps Out $300M Investment Target

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MI-Taubman Centers Inc. reported good results in its second quarter report Wednesday, such as an FFO per diluted share of 68 cents, up more than 23% from Q2 2006, and occupancy at 90% at the end of the quarter. The company has three projects/renovations opening this fall, more under consideration, including an entrance into the Asia markets. “We clearly intend to build our platform in Asia,” said Robert Taubman, chairman and CEO, during the company’s Q2 conference call. “We want to be building a project a year, investing about $150 million per year, and someday we’d like to match that in Asia, where we’d then be building two projects a year and investing $300 million.”

Many results pointed up for the company in Q2. Taubman said average rents were up almost 2% to $43.64, and tenant sales per sf was up 3.6% for the quarter and 6.1% year-to-date.

This fall, the company plans to open the $155 million, 640,000-sf Mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township, MI; a $63 million renovated Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, MI; and a new open-air wing of the Stamford Town Center in Stamford, CT. The company is also working on casino-orientated retail markets. During the second quarter, Taubman acquired a majority interest in the Pier Shops at Caesars in Atlantic City, NJ, and is developing Macau Stuido City in Macao and New Songdo City in Incheon, South Korea. The company also grudgingly acknowledged that it is looking at new centers in Port St. Lucie, FL and in the northern Atlanta area. “We’re working on around 20 deals right now, some announced and some not, and these are ones we haven’t announced. We feel positive about them, but we can’t comment beyond that,” Taubman said in the call.