Site Centers has taken the next step to potentially dissolving its current real estate investment trust in favor of a spinoff firm that would focus exclusively on strip centers.
The Ohio-based REIT has sold a portfolio of 14 shopping centers for $818.6M, and more divestitures are on the way, company executives said during their fourth-quarter earnings call.
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The spinoff company, dubbed Curbline Properties, would be the first public REIT of its kind, Site president and CEO David Lukes said on the call. Site’s portfolio of 65 strip malls, or properties that don’t include a traditional anchor, would go into the trust, which is valued at $1.7B.
“We are well underway on the timeline to form and scale the first public real estate company focused exclusively on convenience properties and remain excited by the prospects and opportunity set," Lukes said in a statement to CoStar.
The move has stirred speculation among analysts that Site may be winding down its existing REIT, though company leaders have yet to confirm or deny those plans.
The company currently has an additional $750M of assets under a letter of intent or negotiation. Another package of $800M is expected to be marketed over the next couple of months, Site executives confirmed.
Site has also been adding to its portfolio of strip malls, including four that it bought at the end of 2023 for an aggregate price of $62.4M. It spent $165.1M on 12 centers over the course of the last year, per CoStar.
Strip malls weathered the pandemic better than traditional retail, as many chain and department store tenants left their spaces in enclosed malls and opted for open-air environments. The properties have seen a significant jump in traffic over the past four years, prompting droves of institutional investors to pour money into the space.
The Curbline spinoff is expected to be completed by Oct. 1, Site executives said on the earnings call.
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