Blackstone REIT and Kimco to Jointly Own Six Sunbelt Shopping Centers
Kimco forms a joint venture partnership with non-traded REIT Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust to own six Sunbelt region shopping centers.
Kimco Realty Corp. (NYSE: KIM), a publicly traded real estate investment trust, has purchased the remaining 70 percent interest in a portfolio of six Publix-anchored, Sunbelt region shopping centers from its existing joint venture partner, Jamestown, for a gross purchase price of $425.8 million.
Subsequently, Kimco formed a joint venture partnership with non-traded REIT, Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, in which each will own 50 percent of the portfolio. Kimco will continue to manage the portfolio on behalf of the joint venture.
The six Publix-anchored assets total more than 1.2 million square feet of gross leasable area in infill markets throughout the Southeast, with five located in the South Florida market and one in the Atlanta market.
Kimco’s original 30 percent interest in the portfolio was acquired through the company’s recently completed merger with Weingarten Realty.
“We’re pleased to partner with Blackstone on this new joint venture which provides us an attractive opportunity to increase Kimco’s ownership stake in a solid collection of grocery-anchored centers in South Florida and Atlanta – two booming markets with strong demographics and high barriers to entry,” said Conor Flynn, Kimco’s chief executive officer.
Kimco Realty is North America’s largest publicly traded owner and operator of open-air, grocery-anchored shopping centers and mixed-use assets. As of September 30, 2021, the company owned interests in 545 U.S. shopping centers and mixed-use assets comprising 94 million square feet of gross leasable space.
Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust’s initial offering launched in August 2016 and has raised $35.6 billion in three public offerings as of August 2021. The REIT has raised $10.9 billion in the current offering, as of mid-October. As of September 30, 2021, the REIT’s aggregate NAV was $41.9 billion.
As of September 30. 2021, the REIT’s investments in real estate totaled $55.8 billion, investments in real estate debt totaled $6.9 billion, and investments in unconsolidated entities totaled $4.5 billion.
