West Hollywood News
Acquisition Of Sunset Shopping Center Complete
By Damian Kelly
Jul 3, 2012 - 5:10:00 PM

WEST HOLLYWOOD—On Tuesday, July 2, Houston-based Weingarten Realty Investors announced it had wrapped up the $99 million acquisition of the 8000 Sunset Shopping Center.

Reports indicate the 171,400-square-foot space at 8000 Sunset Blvd. that contains Trader Joes, Crate & Barrel, Crunch Fitness and the soon-to-open Sundance Cinema was previously owned in a joint venture sponsored by Transwestern Investment Company L.L.C. since 2006.

8000 Sunset Shopping Center. Photo courtesy of Facebook

Since opening in 1993, the center has been a part of a prominent corner in the busy city of West Hollywood.  A $9 million makeover of the shopping center was completed in 2008 and it is currently 94 percent leased.  This is in contrast to the greater Los Angeles retail market, which had an average vacancy rate of 17.8 percent in the first quarter of 2012, according to reports.

8000 Sunset Shopping Center’s other features include plenty of parking for visitors to a city where parking is scarce at best. Over 1,000 parking spaces are available in the five-level underground garage.

Drew Alexander, President and Chief Executive Officer of Weingarten Realty had this to say in a press release regarding the completion of the acquisition by the company that owns, manages and develops shopping centers:

"8000 Sunset is the quality shopping center that we are focused on in our recycling initiative. The center's retailers, Trader Joe's, Pei Wei and Starbucks, are all existing relationships and combined with the superior demographics including the extreme density and high household incomes as well as strong barriers to entry represents the quality we are pursuing in our acquisition program today," said Alexander.

Approximately 140,000 vehicles pass the Sunset Shopping Center on a daily basis according to the release.  In addition, an estimated 240,000 people are living within a three-mile radius of the intersection with an average household income of $104,000.