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Shopping Centers Today -> March 2004
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ROUSE TO BUY PROVIDENCE TROPHY MALL
BY IAN RITTER
In the first large-scale mall transaction of the year, The Rouse Co. is buying Providence (R.I.) Place, a 1.3 million-square-foot regional shopping center in the city’s downtown, for $522 million from Providence Place Group.
Columbia, Md.-based Rouse says it expects to close the deal early this month.
Filene’s, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom anchor the four-level center, which opened in 1999 at a cost of $460 million. The center is split into two parts connected by a glass atrium spanning the Woonasquatucket River. On average, Providence Place’s in-line stores post more than $450 in sales per square foot, says Rouse, and the center is 98 percent occupied.
“We are excited by the prospect of owning and managing a high-quality property like Providence Place and are particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to participate in the future growth of such a vibrant community,” said Anthony W. Deering, Rouse’s chairman and CEO, in a news release.
To help fund the acquisition, Rouse is selling 4 million common shares at $48.50 each.
This is Rouse’s second purchase of a well-known center in recent months. In December Rouse and ING Clarion bought the 240,000-square-foot Mizner Park, a mixed-use center in Boca Raton, Fla., for $136.9 million. Rouse owns 48 retail properties across the United States, including Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston; Fashion Show, Las Vegas; and Water Tower Place, Chicago.
The locally based Providence Place Group is headed by former executives of Pyramid Management Group.
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