What:  Westield is divesting in a 4th mall in the US this year, following the plan announced earlier in 2020.

Why it is important:  Large operators are in a situation where rightsizing is not enough anymore. To remain economically viable, they have to divest and focus on profitable part of their assets portfolio.

Unibal-Rodamco-Westfield, owner of the Westfield Broward mall in Florida, is turning over the property to lenders, and operations to a receiver. This move is part of a plan already announced to let go US properties during 2021 and 2022. The group already divested 3 malls, after having suffered a decrease of 44% sales as a whole for its US operations. Unibail seeks to rebalance their real estate portfolio and focus on the most promising ones, instead of reaching a costly critical mass.

Westfield turns over Florida mall to lenders