Westfield Group buys Dillard's store

Westfield Group buys Dillard's store

BUYER: Sarasota Shoppingtown LLC (Westfield America Limited Partnership), Los Angeles

SELLER: Dillard's Inc.

PROPERTY: 8201 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota

PRICE: $3 million

PREVIOUS PRICE: $4.5 million, November 1995

LAW FIRM ON DEED: Westfield LLC, Los Angeles

PLANS, DESCRIPTION: Little Rock, Ark.-based Dillard's sold it's 98,156-square-foot department store in Westfield Sarasota Square Mall near Potter Park Drive to the Westfield Group for $3 million. The purchase price equated to $31 per square foot of building space. Built in 1989, the building occupies a 6.7-acre site.

Dillard's announced plans to close its department store locations at DeSoto Square Mall and Westfield Sarasota Square in mid-2009. The only Dillard's store in Sarasota and Manatee counties is now at Westfield Southgate Mall.

A spokesperson for Westfield's Sarasota Square mall said there were no deals in place at the moment for a tenant to occupy the space.