HAYWARD \u2014 Southland Mall, a major regional shopping center in the East Bay, has been bought by a group of real estate bargain hunters from the New York City area who like to buy big retail hubs that few others desire to own.<\/p>\n
The regional mall in Hayward<\/a> has been bought for $70 million in an all-cash deal by an affiliate controlled by the principal executives of Namdar Realty Group, according to documents filed on Oct. 24 with the Alameda County Recorder\u2019s Office.<\/p>\n Southland Mall has a high-profile location that\u2019s perched next to the busy interchange of Interstate 880 and West Winton Avenue in Hayward, the county real estate files show.<\/p>\n The shopping center totals 1.1 million square feet of retail floor space, according to information posted by New York City-based real estate firm Brookfield Properties, whose affiliate sold Southland Mall to Namdar Realty.<\/p>\n Macy\u2019s, JCPenney, Ross Dress for Less, Hobby Lobby, and Cinemark Century Southland Mall movie theaters are the primary merchants that anchor Southland Mall, according to the retail hub\u2019s directory. Hobby Lobby took over a shuttered Dick\u2019s Sporting Goods space in recent years.<\/p>\n The only empty anchor space at Southland Mall is a former Sears store, which the legendary retailer decided to close in 2020. By happenstance, in the 1960s, the original retail spaces at Southland Mall were built to incorporate the existing Sears store.<\/p>\n The new owner of Southland Mall often seeks to buy retail malls at an attractive price that have been overlooked by investors.<\/p>\n \u201cValue-added commercial properties\u201d are the primary types of real estate that Namdar Realty seeks to buy, according to the company\u2019s website. These types of commercial sites are properties that are deemed to be underperforming.<\/p>\n The idea with this approach to real estate investments is usually to carry out improvements or upgrades to the properties so as to increase their value.<\/p>\n Yet for some communities, the Namdar Realty approach has produced results that haven\u2019t always pleased local officials.<\/p>\n