ARIZONA DAILY STAR
By: Carli Brousseau
July 24, 2012
An Ohio-based real estate investment trust has bought Tucson Spectrum, a million-square-foot shopping center on West Irvington Road near Interstate 19.
DDR Tucson Spectrum III LLC and DDR Tucson Spectrum II LLC, divisions of DDR Corp., paid a total of $80 million cash for the property, which was divided into two groups of parcels, Pima County records show.
The open-air shopping center’s major tenants include Harkins Theatres, Target, JCPenney, Home Depot and Food City.
“Tucson Spectrum is 99 percent leased, populated with strong retailers and draws shoppers from a large and growing trade area,” DDR spokesman Marty Richmond said via email.
“As such, the center is perfectly aligned with DDR’s prime portfolio of shopping centers across the country, and we look forward to serving shoppers in Tucson for many years to come.”
The company’s website shows that it is looking for tenants for about 52,000 square feet of space.
Several unbuilt lots are also part of the purchased property, county records show.
The shopping center’s previous owner, Scottsdale-based Barclay Group, filed a $112 million claim against the city government last year to stop the development of a proposed, adjacent Sam’s Club.
To entice the Barclay Group to build Tucson Spectrum, the city had placed a restriction on property it owned to the north of the shopping center that prohibited retail development there until 2017.
Contact reporter Carli Brosseau at cbrosseau@azstarnet.com or 573-4197.
