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FOREST CITY, WESTFIELD TEAM ON SAN FRANCISCO MALL

Forest City Enterprises and Westfield America Trust plan to break ground this fall on a $380 million joint venture in San Francisco called San Francisco Centre. The developers will merge Westfield’s current San Francisco Shopping Centre with 835 Market Street, a mixed-use project that Forest City was set to begin this summer in the historic Emporium building, a former department store. San Francisco Centre, at five levels and 1.5 million square feet, is scheduled to open in the summer of 2006.

GGP UNVEILS $525M REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

General Growth Properties says it will spend at least $525 million on development and redevelopment over the next two years. But the United States’ second-largest shopping center development firm was less explicit about how much it intends to spend on acquisitions in the coming year. CEO John L. Bucksbaum, CSM, said the amount could range from nothing to $1 billion. A Morgan Stanley report, however, predicts that General Growth will spend $300 million for acquisitions during the second half of this year. The company is coming off a $2.9 billion buying spree last year. On the development side, the company is building the $200 million, 2 million-square-foot Jordan Creek Town Center, West Des Moines, Iowa, a hybrid enclosed mall and open-air center that broke ground in September.

RETAILERS COLLECT INTERNET SALES TAXES

About 10 major retailers, including Target, Toys ‘R’ Us and Wal-Mart, voluntarily began collecting taxes last month on their Internet sales on behalf of 38 states and Washington, D.C., under a deal that gives them amnesty from not collecting taxes in the past. According to a 1992 U.S. Supreme Court ruling, retailers are not required to collect sales tax on interstate sales, except in those states where they have a physical presence. Even though some large retailers have stores in every state, they had been able to avoid collection because their dot-com operations were set up as separate entities. Meanwhile, an ICSC-backed effort continues to press Congress to allow states to collect taxes from retailers on Web purchases shipped to state residents.

DREXLER NAMED HEAD OF J. CREW

Millard S. Drexler, architect of the huge expansion strategy that put Gap into nearly every U.S. mall, joined J. Crew as chairman and CEO. Drexler must reinvigorate a retailer that has lost ground in a highly competitive sector. But he’s the man for the job, observes Howard Davidowitz, chairman of New York City-based retail consulting firm Davidowitz & Assoc. Drexler, 58, replaces Ken Pilot, who resigned as CEO, while Emily Woods relinquishes her chairwoman’s title but continues to serve on the board. Drexler and J. Crew majority owner Texas Pacific Group have each invested $10 million in the privately held retailer, which operates 152 stores and 43 factory outlets.

PAN PACIFIC PROPERTIES BUYS CENTER TRUST

Pan Pacific Retail Properties has completed its $603 million acquisition of Center Trust, a Manhattan Beach, Calif., owner of open-air and regional shopping centers. The purchase gives Vista, Calif.-based Pan Pacific 31 additional centers and increases the total number in its West Coast portfolio to 136, totaling 23.4 million square feet. The deal included the 1.3 million-square-foot Media City Center, Burbank, Calif., which Pan Pacific then sold to Irvine, Calif.-based Crown Realty & Development for $111 million. The parties expect to close that deal this month.