City worried about mall sale
Jackson Bell
The Media City Center has a new owner and it’s already back on the
market.
The mall’s previous owner, Center Trust Inc., was acquired by Pan
Pacific Retail Properties Thursday. But the new owner is already
looking for another buyer of the mall, much to the chagrin of city
officials.
Even during early negotiation talks in November, Pan Pacific was
clear about its intention to sell the mall. But Community Development
Director Sue Georgino is concerned the mall will be deprived of
desperately needed “aggressive reinvestments” to boost its
performance.
“The longer the mall is in limbo, the worse it is for us,” she
said.
Pan Pacific is the largest owner and operator of grocery stores in
the United States. For that reason, City Manager Bud Ovrom said the
mall is an oblong fit in the company’s profile.
A company spokesman was not available for comment.
Georgino’s two main concerns regarding the center’s fate are
potential buyers don’t understand the severity of the necessary
improvements and buyers won’t be willing to invest the needed capital
for renovations.
Ovrom is concerned plans to add a P.F. Chang’s restaurant and to
restore the mall’s facade and first floor will be abandoned.
“If it finds a company that wants to move forward with [the mall’s
progress], that is a good thing,” he said. “But if they find a buyer
that just wants it for its assets and runs it like it currently is,
that is not a good thing.”
He added that although most of the mall’s retail businesses are
performing well, another aspect that needs improvement is its
interior small-shop spaces.
The Media City Center includes the mall as well as the stores
lining North San Fernando Boulevard to the Virgin Megastore and IKEA
Burbank. It opened in the summer of 1991 and consists of 40 acres, or
about 1.5 million square feet.