 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Shopping Centers Today -> December 2003
 PRINT THIS STORY: |
  CHANGE TEXT SIZE: |
|
DDR TO OPEN 17 CENTERS BY SPRING
Developers Diversified Realty says it will open 17 centers, valued at a total of $450 million, between now and the end of the first quarter. Further, the Beachwood, Ohio-based company will pursue growth not so much through acquiring existing centers as building new ones.
Over the past few years, acquisitions have accounted for just over half of DDR’s new centers. Going forward, for every $1 billion spent on new centers, only 25 percent will go toward purchases, the company says.
This shift toward new development can be attributed to a favorable economic climate, the company’s chairman and CEO, Scott A. Wolstein, told SCT.
“It really isn’t a change in strategy,” Wolstein said. “It’s a change in the marketplace.”
The company may in fact still buy as many centers as before, but it will spend less to do so, making the acquisitions through joint ventures in which its stake averages 20 percent. Cap rates, or the return on investment, are now about 7 percent for acquisitions, explains Wolstein, while for new developments they’re closer to 11 percent.
Among the projects the company will be rolling out in coming months are several that JDN Realty was to bring on line. (DDR bought JDN in March.)
The community centers DDR is building measure between 500,000 and 1 million square feet; the company has increased its output of lifestyle centers in recent years too, Wolstein says.
DDR is the country’s fourth-largest shopping center owner, with 360 centers in 44 states, totaling 82 million square feet.
— IR
 | Current Issue January 2009 |