URW center in SoCal may become the home of the L.A. Rams

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield moved closer to its goal of disposing of all its United States-based properties during the final days of 2022—and one of those divestitures could become the new training facility of the L.A. Rams

Last week, URW sold The Village, a 600,000-sq.-ft. outdoor lifestyle center in the San Fernando Valley to The Kroenke Organization. The acquirer’s chief happens to be Rams Owner Stan Kroenke, and news reports started surfacing in Los Angeles a year ago that Kroenke was in negotiations with URW to acquire one of its properties and make it the site of team headquarters.

While most NFL teams have their training facilities close to their stadiums, the Rams share SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles with the Chargers, who last year completed a deal to relocate their training facility from Costa Mesa to El Segundo.

Last week, URW also completed the sale of Westfield Trumbull mall in Trumbull, Conn., and Westfield South Shore mall in Bay Shore, N.Y., to a commercial real estate investment firm for a total of $196 million.

URW stated that the combined gross sale price of the mall assets are equal to their gross market value. The 1.3-milllion-sq.-ft. Westfield Trumbull is 85% leased and the 1 million-sq.-ft. Westfield South Shore is 89% leased, according to the company.

In September, URW sold the 1.5 million-sq.-ft. Westfield Santa Anita mall in Arcadia, Calif. for $537.5 million—the highest price paid for a U.S. mall in five years. The company sought to expand its reach into the U.S. market with the acquisition of Westfield in 2018 and rebranded several of its European malls with the Westfield name.

To date, URW reports recouping $1.3 billion dollars of its original investment in the U.S.