Simon to get three Gulf Coast malls with Taubman deal

Simon Property Group’s pending $3.6 billion acquisition of a majority stake in the entity that controls Taubman Centers’ mall holdings will add three upscale Gulf Coast retail hubs to its vast portfolio.

The nation’s largest mall owner and operator is slated to take control of Tampa’s International Plaza, a property Taubman owns with Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association; the Mall at University Town Center, which is owned through a joint venture with local Benderson Development Co.; and Waterside Shops, in Naples.

Taubman’s Mall at Millenia, in Orlando, also will become part of Simon Property’s portfolio once it finalizes a purchase of an 80% stake in the Taubman Realty Group and buy Taubman Centers’ common stock for a cash price of $52.50 per share, a roughly 50% premium to its stock price of early February.

Taubman will remain a 20% partner in its portfolio of 26 properties containing 25 million square feet. Its portfolio was 94% occupied at sales per square foot of more than $970 -- well above many mall operators.

The 880,000-square-foot Mall at University Town Center is among the newest malls to have opened in the U.S. The property, anchored by Saks Fifth Avenue, Dillard’s and Macy, opened in October 2014 and was among just two new malls completed nationwide that year.

International Plaza and Bay Street, a 1.2 million-square-foot mall that opened in 2001, is anchored by luxury department stores Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom, along with Dillard’s. The super-regional mall at 2223 N. Westshore Blvd., in Tampa, also features luxury inline tenants such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Coach, Kate Spade and Tiffany & Co.

In late 2014, Taubman sold a stake just under 50% of the mall to a joint venture between Teachers Insurance and Dutch pension fund APG for $499 million.

Waterside Shops, in Naples, contains many of the same offerings, with Nordstrom, Kate Spade, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Tiffany & Co, to name a few. The retail hub also contains Saks Fifth Avenue, Rolex, Michael Kors and Ralph Lauren, among others.

Simon Property also owns four major shopping centers along the Gulf Coast: The Coconut Point mall in Estero; the Tyrone Square Mall, in St. Petersburg; the Ellention Premium Outlets in Manatee County; and the Tampa Premium Outlets, in Hillsborough County.

In all, the company controls 22 properties in Florida.