Citigroup Provides $82M for Seattle-Area Mall Acquisition

Lightstone Group has secured $82 million to acquire The Outlet Collection Seattle, a 943,000-square-foot shopping mall in Auburn, Wash., Commercial Observer has learned. 

Citigroup (C)’s Joe Dyckman and Gabe Podair provided the five-year, fixed-rate loan, while Adam Schwartz, Aaron Appel, Jonathan Schwartz, Keith Kurland and Michael Ianno of Walker & Dunlop’s New York capital markets team arranged the financing. 

The financing for the deal closed Nov. 18, and Lightstone announced its acquisition of the mall from Washington Prime Group on Nov. 26. 

Lightstone pledged to invest more than $10 million in capital improvements and tenancy upgrades into the enclosed mall, which opened its doors in August 1995. 

David Lichtenstein, chairman and CEO of Lightstone, said his firm sees “tremendous opportunity” in the property. 

“Having spent years building a premier portfolio of retail and outlet spaces across the country, we have a deep understanding of the market and we know how to identify, nurture, and enhance well-performing assets,” said Lichtenstein in a statement. 

Located at 101 Outlet Collection Way in Auburn — a suburb roughly 40 minutes drive from Seattle and 30 minutes from Tacoma — The Outlet Collection Seattle contains 140 stores and more than 5,000 parking spaces. It opened as SuperMall of the Great Northwest but was rebranded as The Outlet Collection Seattle in 2012. 

The mall receives 4.9 million visitors per year, according to Urbanize Seattle. 

Current tenants include Nordstrom Rack, Burlington, Old Navy, Dave & Buster’s, Ulta Beauty, Nike, Polo, Coach, Michael Kors, Adidas and Kate Spade. The mall is 98 percent occupied, according to Walker & Dunlop. 

Brian Pascus can be reached at bpascus@commercialobserver.com