Investment in big San Mateo regional shopping mall: $257 million

SAN MATEO — A veteran real estate firm has paid a quarter-billion dollars to buy a big stake in Hillsdale Shopping Center, a prominent regional retail mall in San Mateo, this news organization’s review of public records shows.

Northwood Investors, a real estate private equity firm, paid $256.9 million to purchase an interest in the Hillsdale mall, which totals 1.3 million square feet, according to documents filed with the San Mateo County Recorder’s Office.

The value of the purchase was derived from the San Mateo city taxes that Northwood affiliate HSC Property Owner paid for its investment in Hillsdale mall, the property records filed on Dec. 2 show.

With the property purchase, the owners of Hillsdale mall now are affiliates controlled by Northwood and by David D. Bohannon Organization, the family-headed company that developed and has owned Hillsdale since it opened as an outdoor shopping center in 1954.

“We are committed to continuing our family’s relationship with this property and its service to the San Mateo community as we have done for the past 75 years,” said David Bohannon II, chief executive officer of the Bohannon firm.

Northwood Investors has completed equity investments totaling $7 billion in an array of retail centers in the United States and Europe, according to the company’s website.

“We are excited to bring our mixed-use capabilities to Hillsdale and look forward to a long relationship with the Bohannon family and the community of San Mateo,” Brady Thurman, a senior managing director with Northwood Investors.

Prior to the venture at Hillsdale mall, Northwood’s only investments in the Golden State were in Southern California retail centers, according to the company’s website.

“Northwood is grateful for the opportunity to partner with the Bohannon Companies on Hillsdale Shopping Center,” Thurman said.

In 2016, spurred by the closure of a Sears store as a long-time anchor, the Bohannon firm launched a major upgrade to demolish the old Sears building and replace it with a modern wing known as the North Block.

The Bohannon group obtained a $240 million construction loan from Pacific Life Insurance Co., county documents filed in 2016 show.

Confronted by the retail apocalypse ushered in by the dramatic shift to online shopping, the Bohannon family initiated Re:Imagine Hillsdale, a venture to revamp the shopping center’s future.