Westfield Corporation

Westfield Corporation
Public
Traded as ASX: WFD
Industry Property development
Shopping centre management
Founded 1960 (Westfield Development Corporation lists on the Sydney Stock Exchange)
Founder Frank Lowy
John Saunders
Headquarters Level 29, 85 Castlereagh Street, Sydney, Australia
Area served
 United States
United Kingdom
Key people
 Frank P. Lowy AC, Chairman
Brian Schwartz, Deputy Chairman
Steven M Lowy AM, Co-CEO
Peter Lowy, Co-CEO,
Michael Gutman OBE, President & COO
Revenue 635.5million (2014)
Total assets $19.6bn (2014)
Number of employees
 2,000 in United States, United Kingdom, Australia staff worldwide (2014)[1]
Subsidiaries Westfield Management Limited, Westfield America Management Limited, and others
Website Westfield Corporation homepage

Westfield Corporation was created in June 2014 when Westfield Group separated its Australian and New Zealand businesses from its international operations. It is one of the world’s leading shopping centre companies with retail destinations in England and the United States. The corporation undertakes ownership, development, design, construction, funds/asset management, property management, leasing, and marketing activities for its centres. It is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and has a shopping centre portfolio that includes investment interests in 40 shopping centres across the United States and Europe, encompassing around 7,500 retail outlets and total assets under management in excess of $28.5 billion.

History

The Westfield Corporation has origins in the western suburbs of Sydney. The first development was named "Westfield Place", and opened in July 1959 in Blacktown.[2] The name Westfield is derived from "west" related to the West-Sydney location, and "field" due to having been located on subdivided farmland. The centre was opened by John Saunders and Frank Lowy.[2]

The company was floated on the Australian Stock Exchange in 1960 and built another five centres in New South Wales before expanding into Victoria and Queensland in 1966-67.[3]

The expansion into the United States began with the purchase of the Trumbull Shopping Park in Connecticut in 1977, and was followed by three centers in California, Michigan, and Connecticut in 1980 and three centers in California, New Jersey, and Long Island, New York in 1986.[3] In 1994, Westfield joined together with General Growth and Whitehall Real Estate to purchase 19 centers for US$1 billion. The company built considerable holdings on the east coast and in California before expanding in the Mid-West. By 2005, the company owned centrers in 15 US states.[3]

In the 1990s, Westfield began a major expansion to New Zealand, where they mostly bought existing shopping centres of the Fletchers company, and progressively rebranded them. In 2007, with Westfield Albany, the company opened a new centre in the country.[4]

In 2010, the Westfield Group split 50% of its Australian and New Zealand assets into the Westfield Retail Trust, trading on the Australian Stock Exchange as ASX: WRT.

In April 2012 it was announced that the Westfield Group will sell seven 'non-core' property assets to Starwood Capital Group for A$1 billion and one other property to an undisclosed buyer for A$147 million. The funds will be used to repay debt and invest in businesses offering higher return. The sales are expected to be completed by mid–2012.[5]

Current operations

Westfield currently has interests in total assets worth $27.7 billion, owning 40 shopping malls in the United States and the United Kingdom − with over 49.9 million square feet of retail space. The company is also currently building a shopping centre in Milan, Italy. Despite the Westfield Corporation's asset dimensions, the Westfield Corporation is strongly controlled by the Lowy Family Group, including chairman, Frank Lowy, one of its founders.[6] Lowy's two younger sons, Steven and Peter, are Co-CEO’s. Peter Lowy is also the CFO of Westfield Corporation.

United States

Since entering the United States market in 1977, Westfield has aggressively acquired, renovated and expanded many mall properties in order to draw wealthier consumers from longer distances. In[7] July 2001, Westfield paid US$127 million for a 99-year lease on the retail area beneath the New York World Trade Center. In September 2003 the Westfield Group received US$17.3 million as a party in the insurance claim following the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.[8] On February 18, 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that Westfield, "the largest owner of shopping centres in California and the world," had agreed to acquire 15 stores from Federated Department Stores, all but three in southern California.[9] Westfield has also financed large advertising campaigns to increase awareness of its Westfield brand.

On May 9, 2006, Westfield announced the sale of eight centres in the United States, in an effort to divest themselves of "non-strategic assets since they no longer fit within our investment criteria nor are they in our long-term redevelopment plans".[10] Since then, the company disposed 5 centers, including four out of the remaining five "Westfield Missouri" malls, and the high-end "Shops at 'Westfield' North Bridge." Westfield’s current portfolio includes 38 malls in the United States with nearly 6,747 stores across 46.3 million square feet of retail space in the states of California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Washington.[11]

Centre name Location Total retail floor area
m2 sq ft
Westfield Galleria at Roseville Roseville, California 122,052 m2 1,313,758 sq ft
Westfield Oakridge San Jose, California 105,908 m2 1,139,985 sq ft
Westfield San Francisco Centre San Francisco, California 134,117 m2 1,443,624 sq ft
Westfield Valley Fair California 139,143 m2 1,497,728 sq ft
Westfield Century City California 81,308 m2 875,192 sq ft
Westfield Culver City Culver City, California 98,634 m2 1,061,687 sq ft
Westfield Fashion Square California 79,605 m2 856,865 sq ft
Westfield MainPlace Santa Ana, California 103,861 m2 1,117,952 sq ft
Westfield Palm Desert Palm Desert, California 85,157 m2 916,622 sq ft
Westfield Santa Anita Arcadia, California 137,117 m2 1,475,916 sq ft
Westfield Topanga California 147,102 m2 1,583,398 sq ft
Westfield Valencia Town Center Santa Clarita, California 99,802 m2 1,074,263 sq ft
Westfield Horton Plaza San Diego, California 68,160 m2 733,667 sq ft
Westfield Mission Valley San Diego, California 146,314 m2 1,574,912 sq ft
Westfield North County Escondido, California 111,906 m2 1,204,549 sq ft
Westfield Plaza Bonita National City, California 96,077 m2 1,034,163 sq ft
Westfield Plaza Camino Real Carlsbad, California 103,968 m2 1,119,104 sq ft
Westfield UTC San Diego, California 103,040 m2 1,109,116 sq ft
Westfield Connecticut Post Milford, Connecticut 124,091 m2 1,335,703 sq ft
Westfield Meriden Meriden, Connecticut 82,936 m2 892,712 sq ft
Westfield Trumbull Trumbull, Connecticut 104,480 m2 1,124,614 sq ft
Westfield Brandon Tampa, Florida 106,690 m2 1,148,402 sq ft
Westfield Broward Plantation, Florida 91,032 m2 979,865 sq ft
Westfield Citrus Park Citrus Park, Florida 105,845 m2 1,139,310 sq ft
Westfield Countryside Clearwater, Florida 116,554 m2 1,254,574 sq ft
Westfield Sarasota Square Sarasota, Florida 95,104 m2 1,023,689 sq ft
Westfield Southgate Sarasota, Florida 39,191 m2 421,844 sq ft
Westfield Fox Valley Aurora, Illinois 130,816 m2 1,408,089 sq ft
Westfield Hawthorn Vernon Hills, Illinois 117,895 m2 1,269,014 sq ft
Westfield Old Orchard Skokie, Illinois 166,196 m2 1,788,919 sq ft
Westfield Annapolis Annapolis, Maryland 138,955 m2 1,495,700 sq ft
Westfield Montgomery Bethesda, Maryland 115,336 m2 1,241,471 sq ft
Westfield Wheaton Wheaton, Maryland 152,052 m2 1,636,671 sq ft
Westfield Garden State Plaza New Jersey 102,161 m2 1,099,647 sq ft
Westfield South Shore Bay Shore, New York 102,161 m2 1,099,647 sq ft
Westfield Sunrise East Massapequa, New York 112,565 m2 1,211,643 sq ft
Westfield Southcenter Tukwila, Washington 160,721 m2 1,729,988 sq ft
Westfield Vancouver Vancouver, Washington 84,712 m2 911,835 sq ft

United Kingdom

Westfield Corporation has an interest in two shopping centres in England: Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City. By far, its most significant asset is Westfield's 50% partnership[12] in the £1.6b[13] Westfield London development in Shepherd's Bush, west London. The development included the construction of a new railway station for the London Overground and Southern services, and a new entrance for the London Underground station. The centre opened in October 2008.

Westfield owns the Westfield Stratford City and also controls the Stratford City redevelopment project next to the 2012 Olympic park in Stratford in east London, having acquired the 75% of the project that it did not already own.[14]

Westfield Corporation is currently involved in £1 billion joint venture with Hammerson to redevelop the Whitgift Centre and adjacent Centrale shopping centre in Croydon in south London.[15]

Westfield is the developer behind the troubled Broadway shopping development in Bradford after acquiring Stannifer in 2004. Developed alongside Meyer Bergman, it was slated to open in 2015. Stated from its website, Westfield will manage the place.[16]

Centre name Location Total retail floor area
m2 sq ft
Westfield London White City, London 162,141 m2 1,745,270 sq ft
Westfield Stratford City London 172,587 m2 1,857,715 sq ft

Westfield Labs

Based in San Francisco, California, Westfield Labs is an entity of Westfield Corporation. The Lab’s mission is to create products and experiences that will innovate the retail ecosystem and converge the digital shopper with the physical world. Through social, mobile, and digital market opportunities, Westfield Labs transforms emerging ideas and technologies into viable businesses that move the retail industry forward.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Westfield Career Page" (Press release). Westfield Group. 16 February 2011. Retrieved 11 September 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Westfield History" (pdf). About us. p. 14. Retrieved 5 January 2007. |chapter= ignored (help)
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Sammartino, André; Van Ruth, Frances (2007). "The Westfield Group". In Dick, H.; Merrett, D. The Internationalisation Strategies of Small-Country Firms: The Australian Experience of Globalisation. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. pp. 308–318.
  4. ↑ Gibson, Anne (23 August 2007). "Countdown under way for Albany supermall rollout". New Zealand Herald.
  5. ↑ Saminather, Nichola (18 April 2012). "Westfield Sells 7 U.S. Malls to Starwood for $1 Billion". Bloomberg. Retrieved 18 May 2012.
  6. ↑ Cummins, Carolyn (24 September 2004). "Frank Lowy gives himself a $1.3m pay rise". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
  7. ↑ Larry Silverstein
  8. ↑ "Westfield wants out of World Trade Centre site". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 September 2003.
  9. ↑ Roger Vincent (18 February 2006). "Deal to Open Up Shopping Malls". Los Angeles Times.
  10. ↑ "Westfield Group Announces Transactions With Centro Properties Group and Somera Capital Management" (Press release). Westfield Group. 9 May 2006. Retrieved 5 December 2006.
  11. ↑ http://corporate.westfield.com/properties/us/
  12. ↑ "Property Portfolio - London". Westfield Group. 2008-07-18. Retrieved 2008-07-18.
  13. ↑ "A New Icon in UK Retail: "Westfield London"" (PDF) (Press release). Westfield Group. 18 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-11-30.
  14. ↑ "Westfield to control 100% of Stratford City, Major East London Regeneration Project" (Press release). Westfield Group. 2006-06-13. Retrieved 2006-12-04.
  15. ↑ "Westfield unveils plans for Croydon shopping centre". BBC News. 4 July 2012.
  16. ↑ Kilner, Will (29 September 2006). "Broadway construction "will start in New Year"". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 4 December 2006.

External links