Camarillo Plaza sells for $17.8M out of bankruptcy
The bankrupt Camarillo Plaza community shopping center has been sold to an undisclosed Beverly Hills buyer for $17.8 million after receiving 20 separate offers.
The 74,072-square-foot mall is located on Daily Drive at the intersection of Brently Avenue, across Highway 101 from the Camarillo Premium Outlets.
The property, which was first listed for sale in February 2012, was put into bankruptcy following high vacancies during the recession, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers International, which represented the seller in the recent deal. The buyer was an undisclosed private investor from Beverly Hills who was represented by Peter Cohen of Cardinal Equities.
The Colliers team was led by Tom Lagos and El Warner out of the firm’s Los Angeles office. The firm said that during the 20-month marketing effort, court rulings and financial challenges hampered a deal.
The mall’s current tenants include local retailers and national chain restaurants such as Baja Fresh and The Habit Burger Grill, as well as service retailers such as Avis Rent-a-Car.
“Although the center still has some retail vacancies that pose a challenge in the current market, the buyer saw long-term potential and understands that the city’s highly restrictive growth controls on future commercial building will increase demand for retail space in the near future,” Lagos said in a statement. “But what the sale really represents is an upturn in the retail economy, which is a positive sign for the region, especially when you consider the length of time we spent marketing this property and the number of offers we were able to attract.”
The high vacancies last year placed the property outside of the provisions of its loan requirements, forcing the owner to try to sell it through bankruptcy, Colliers said. A buyer was then found, but escrow fell through due to a difficult loan assumption approval clause.
“I had worked with the seller in the past and had built a strong relationship, so the deal truly became possible when we were able to work as trusted advisors with our client’s attorneys and the lender’s attorneys to help remove some of the ‘hoops’ that the court process and loan provisions required any potential buyers to jump through,” Lagos said. “For example, removing the requirement of a loan assumption put in place the proper conditions for a sale that would eventually benefit everyone involved.”
