It was recently disclosed that the final sales price of the Sequoia Mall was $10,750,000. David Paynter of Paynter Realty & Investments was the buyer. He bought the property under the recorded name of Caldwell Mooney Partners II LP. The Tustin developer made a 14.4% down payment of $1,550,000 and financed $9,200,00 using two different sources. His strategy for the highly leveraged purchase might be to save his capital for renovations.
The Sequoia Mall is located on one of the busiest intersections in Visalia, the corner of Mooney and Caldwell. It was built in 1973 and sold in 1998. The mall went through its first–and probably last–renovation in 1999. According to a November 25th Visalia Times -Delta article, the mall sold in 2003 for $27.4 million and then resold in 2007 to Shottenstein Property Group Benton Kraner based in Ohio, and Kimco Realty Corporation out of New York, the previous owners before David Paynter. The purchasing price was unknown in 2007 but it was listed for $30 million.
The county tax collector appraised the property at around $17 million in 2013.
According to CoStar Comps, the condition of the sale was listed as “distress sale, high vacancy property, short sale.”
The commercial real estate information company also stated that “the subject property was 60% vacant at the time of sale; therefore, a cap rate was not applicable due to the high vacancy. Also, the property was a short sale. They went on to say, “The motivation for the buyer was a value-add opportunity through upgrading the property through capital improvements and leasing it up. The buyer is an individual investor.”
The purchase involved four buildings built at different times with the main part of the mall being the oldest and the most expensive at $7,007,407.
Paynter has not disclosed what he plans on doing with the mall. According to a source involved with the mall’s future, he is still working on his strategy to revive the mall. What the new owner does will depend on what the market will bear. Paynter is considering all his options such as making the structure an open-air mall or doing a full renovation. Demolition seems highly unlikely.