CULVER CITY, CA-Equity One of North Miami Beach, FL has paid $115 million for Culver Center, a 216,578-square-foot neighborhood center in this city next to West Los Angeles.

The center is a “trophy and an irreplaceable asset,” David Chasin tells GlobeSt.com. He is a principal with Pegasus Investments of Century City, who represented the seller; Equity One represented itself in the transaction. He declined to name the buyer, citing a confidentiality agreement.   

Anchored by Ralph’s, Best Buy and Bally Total Fitness, the property is located in a densely populated Westside neighborhood, located directly across the street from Sony Picture Studios. The center is 99% leased.

Built originally in the 1950s, the center sits on 9.7 acres of land. The demographics are enviable, according to Chasin: about 278,500 people live within a three-mile radius of the center, with an average household income of $86,000.

Representatives from Equity One could not be reached for further information by deadline. In a statement, however, chief executive Jeff Olson says Culver Center “meets all of our acquisition criteria: a major metropolitan market, severe supply constraints, strong tenant sales, below market rents, near term (net operating income) growth, and opportunities for future redevelopment.”

“Equity One has been a very active purchaser of this type of product in the past 12 months, including centers acquired in Long Beach and the Bay Area,” according to Chasin. 

“Now is a very good time to sell retail assets,” he adds. “Institutional buyers have a strong appetite for stabilized assets like Culver Center.” 

Equity One currently owns 176 shopping centers containing 20.7 million square feet, and has “joint-venture interests” in centers with 2.7 million square feet, according to the company.