San Bruno, Calif. — QIC, one of the largest institutional investment managers in Australia, has acquired the Shops at Tanforan in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of San Bruno for $174 million.
The 970,000-square-foot shopping center was acquired from Breevast BV by what is being described as a “major Australian client.”
The Shops of Tanforan’s anchor tenants include Sears, Target, JC Penney and Century Theatres.
San Bruno is located 13 miles south of San Francisco, near major tech companies such as Facebook and Apple.
“The U.S. market is opportunity-rich, and the combination of QIC’s on-the-ground office in Los Angeles and teams around the world will continue to enable us to source high-quality assets for our clients,” says Matthew Strotton, head of U.S. funds and investments for QIC.
The Shops at Tanforan is the 10th U.S. retail property QIC has invested into on behalf of its Australian clients over the last 18 months. Earlier this year, QIC assisted AustralianSuper — one of Australia’s largest pension funds — in acquiring a 25 percent stake in Honolulu’s Ala Moana Centre for approximately $1.1 billion.
The acquisition of The Shops at Tanforan, which represents QIC’s first 100 percent-owned U.S. property, is a part of QIC’s two-year U.S. real estate joint venture with Forest City Enterprises Inc.
QIC has approximately $56.7 billion in funds under management, and approximately 90 clients including governments, pension plans, sovereign wealth funds and insurers, spanning Australia, Europe, Asia, Middle East and the United States.
Breevast invests worldwide in commercial and residential real estate, and also develops and manages commercial and residential properties, including large-scale portfolios of office buildings, business premises, shopping malls and homes.
— Scott Reid