An Oklahoma City-based investor group purchased University Town Center from its previous owner, The Rainier Companies, for $82.25 million Monday.
The Rainier Companies, which is also the master developer for the Rock Creek Entertainment District, sold the retail center to Mazaheri Properties.
The sale comes just before university and city officials broke ground on the entertainment district Tuesday, also located in University Park North.
University North Park makes up the retail area in north Norman along Interstate 35 between Robinson Street and Tecumseh Road.
The Rainier Companies is a privately owned real estate development company based in Dallas. The company has made over 300 investments with an estimated value of $2.5 billion, according to its website.
University Town Center is a 2-mile retail strip in University North Park off I-35 that leases more than 40 shops including Target, Kohl’s and Ulta, according to The Rainier Companies.
According to the company’s website, the 416,766-square-foot property receives around 10 million visits per year.
Danny Lovell, president and CEO of The Rainier Companies, wrote in a Tuesday email to OU Daily that the decision was related to reallocating investment capital.
“We have owned the property for seven years and are reallocating investment capital. … We are very pleased with the investment result,” Lovell wrote.
Lovell wrote there were no challenges in the transaction process.
Lovell wrote in a Wednesday email to the OU Daily that the decision was partially related to the Rock Creek Entertainment District.
“Partially, yes, to reallocate some of our capital toward the Rock Creek development. The property was not for sale but (we) got what we felt was a compelling off market offer, and timing worked out,” Lovell wrote.
Mazaheri Properties owns 13 retail properties across Oklahoma City, Edmond and Moore, including Shoppes at Quail Springs and 240 Penn Park, according to its website.
The purchase of University Town Center is the company’s first in the Norman area, according to its website.
Phillip Mazaheri, the retail investment broker representing Mazaheri Properties, explained the decision to purchase the property.
“The last few years, we have moved into more institutional-type properties — power centers, retail investments — and Norman has been on our list. We look at major metros and the dominant power centers within those,” Mazaheri said.
Mazaheri said the company immediately began work to upgrade the curb appeal and landscaping of the property. Mazaheri said the company would look to get market-value rent on older leases currently offering below-market rent. The company did not anticipate much turnover and expected steady income from the center, according to Mazaheri.
Sara Kaplan, retail marketing coordinator for the city of Norman, said typically ownership changes are beneficial to the economy.
“That’s usually a good sign that it’s in high demand,” Kaplan said. “I haven’t looked in great detail into that particular sale, but typically that’s a good indicator, especially when you look at the price of what that was sold for.”
This story was edited by Macey Thaxton and Audrey McClour. Mary Ann Livingood copy edited this story.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.oudaily.com ’
