CASE STUDY: Weyburn Marketplace

Los Angeles, California

We identified an opportunity to acquire a vacant department store in Westwood Village, a well-situated community adjacent to the UCLA campus.  We earned approval from the community and embarked on a major redevelopment that transformed the space while preserving its historic façade.  The new national credit tenants signed long-term leases and sparked a retail revival for the surrounding area.

The Opportunity

In the late 1990s, Federated Department Stores decided to close its Macy’s location in Westwood Village – a historic Los Angeles neighborhood serving the affluent communities of Westwood, Beverly Hills, Holmby Hills, Bel-Air and Brentwood.  They approached us with an opportunity to acquire the 390,000 square foot building in 1999.  We saw the opportunity and successfully negotiated a favorable lease-to-buy structure that minimized development risk while preserving strong investment returns.

The Vision

The building’s central location serving such an affluent population suggested that there was great potential for successful transformation.  We devised a plan that would reconfigure the space to house several new retailers while preserving the building’s historic façade.  We also planned to add new entrances to ease traffic flow and provide greater convenience for shoppers.

The Challenges

One of our major challenges was to convince the local community to approve our plans for revitalization.  Westwood Village had already undergone several unsuccessful redevelopment efforts and the Macy’s building was the community’s lone anchor site.  We were also faced with convincing retailers that they could succeed where a major department store had failed. 

The Result

The community embraced our plan for transforming the vacant Macy’s department store into Weyburn Markeplace – a bustling retail destination featuring Home Expo Design Center, Ralph’s Fresh Fare, Long’s Drugs and Best Buy as anchor tenants.  Bob Walsh, Executive Director of the Westwood Village Community Alliance, said, “What separated Madison Marquette from other developers was that their vision was sensible and incorporated the concerns of local residents and other area businesses.”