Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM), North America’s largest publicly-traded owner and operator of open-air shopping centers, announced Tuesday that it purchased the Christown Spectrum Mall from a venture formed by Coventry Real Estate Holdings. An 850,000-square-foot destination power center in the Phoenix metropolitan area, the property sold for $115.3 million ($135.65 PSF).
Opening in 1961, it is the oldest operating mall and was the third shopping mall built in Phoenix, Arizona., Formerly known as Christown Mall, at 1703 W Bethany Home Road in Phoenix, the mall has was rebranded to Spectrum Mall.
Christown Mall was originally named after the farmer, Chris Harri, who sold a large portion of his farm land to the mall's developer in the late 1950s. The mall's north-central location, about 7 miles directly north of the state Capitol, eventually became a well-known landmark.
The property, situated one mile east of Interstate 17, is accessible by more than a dozen points of ingress/ egress and lies adjacent to the second-busiest light rail station in Phoenix.
Christown Spectrum is 94% occupied and is located at the dominant and highly trafficked (97,600 ADT) retail corner of West Bethany Home Road and North 19th Avenue in one of the most densely populated areas in the Phoenix metro , with a population of 437,000 within a 5-mile radius.
It is anchored by a Walmart Supercenter, Costco and SuperTarget; the only center in the U.S. to boast all three retailers. Supplementing the three main anchor tenants are several national and/or investment grade retailers such as Walgreens, Ross Dress for Less, PetSmart, Dollar Tree, Bank of America, Famous Footwear, GNC, Bath & Body Works, Supercuts, Taco Bell, Carl’s Jr. and Wingstop Restaurant.
The property offers various redevelopment and value creation opportunities including several below-market ground leases, the development of numerous pads and the expansion of leasable square footage.
Kimco also owns the Mesa Riverview development as well as a number of other Phoenix area shopping centers.