GLENDORA, CA—Retail management company Vestar has been hired to manage Diamond Ridge at Glendora Marketplace, a 399,264-square-foot retail center. The institutional-quality asset is now part of Vestar's 23-million-square-foot portfolio, and is the latest property addition in an aggressive expansion, which has led the company to gain 2.5-million-square feet of institutional assets over the last 12 months.

“As with any asset we manage, Vestar conducts a number of on-site observations and evaluations in order to better understand how the center is being utilized by its customers and the community it serves,” Janice Fuchs, VP of property management at Vestar, tells GlobeSt.com. “We work closely with ownership to create an immediate plan of action with milestones to evaluate frequencies of services and service providers in order to make the shopping experience as pleasant as possible for our customers and businesses.”

Located at W. Gladstone Street and W. Lone Hill Avenue, the property is located near the 210 and 57 freeways. It is currently occupied by a broad spectrum of inline and pad tenants, including AMC Theater, Barnes & Noble, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Best Buy, Petsmart and 24 Hour Fitness. “Our immediate goal is to meet our tenants and let them know that we are available and appreciate their feedback,” says Fuchs. “With a proven track record of successful tenant relationships, Vestar has found tenant feedback invaluable in the management of our assets. Diamond Ridge is no different.”

The retail market is clearly booming, with headlines daily about expanding retail platforms. Both Avison Young and JLL have recently announced key hires that will augment their retail groups and focus on the greater L.A. area, while new reports from MasterCard have recently revealed that several L.A. retail hubs rank in the top 1% nationally in terms of sales revenue. As a result of expanding portfolios, institutional investors are turning to retail management firms, like Vestar, to help oversee these properties.

“We have found that our property management platform is particularly beneficial to our clients, especially when Vestar is brought on early to support their due diligence efforts pre-purchase or pre-assumption,” Fuchs says. “In these cases, we are able to provide added value and property management insight.  Through these partnerships, Vestar is able to support our clients in their valuations and Vestar, as the named property management team, is able to more seamlessly assume the management of these assets.”