Retail REIT Macerich has refinanced Queens Center in the borough’s Elmhurst neighborhood at highly favorable terms with a new $525-million loan bearing fixed interest of 5.37% and interest-only payments during the entire term. “5.37% is the lowest rate on a refinance that Macerich has achieved since 2019, and this loan represents Macerich’s largest outstanding loan,” said Jack Hsieh, president and CEO. The property he said, is “consistently one of the best-performing properties in our entire portfolio,”

Hsieh added, “This completed transaction demonstrates confidence from the capital markets in Macerich’s assets and in progress on our Path Forward Plan, launched earlier this year, which is sharply focused on three key areas: simplifying our business, improving operational performance and reducing leverage. Through advantageous refinancings like this, among other strategic initiatives, we are continuing to advance Macerich’s mission to add long-term value for our shareholders, partners and customers.”

For Queens Center, Macerich carried a more conservative refinance assumption in its spring 2024 five-year forecast. “This is a major reason we believe we have room to potentially outperform our five-year refinance plan and to possibly achieve even greater FFO growth,” said Hsieh.

Macerich published its detailed Path-Forward plan to simplify the business, improve operational performance and reduce leverage under the leadership of new president and CEO Jackson Hsieh. The publication follows the Santa Monica-based retail REIT’s acquisition of the remaining 40% interest in Arrowhead Towne Center (metro Phoenix) and South Plains Mall (Lubbock, TX) for $36.5 million earlier this month.

The company said its Path-Forward plan is designed to:

• Deleverage the capital structure to a low-to-mid 6x range over the next three to four years.
• Invest in and fortify key assets in the portfolio.
• Proactively consolidate selected joint venture assets that are core to the overall strategy.
• Deliver clean FFO/share launch point of ~$1.80/share over the next three to four years.
• Improve various internal processes that are being evaluated and realigned to achieve outstanding operational results.
• Position the company to take an offensive stance on acquisitions, reinvestment and selected development.

“I am excited to chart a new direction for Macerich and lead the company to elevated performance as we launch a simple, executable plan that forwards our mission to add long-term value for shareholders, partners, and customers,” said Hsieh. “I am very optimistic and confident about our company’s future as we undertake this well-crafted path forward.”

Pictured: Macerich’s Tysons Corner Center in McLean, VA.

Jackson Hsieh will become the president and CEO of The Macerich Company on March 1, following the retirement of Thomas O’Hern after 30 years of service to the company. Concurrent with O’Hern’s retirement, president Edward Coppola will also retire from Macerich.

O’Hern will serve as an advisor to the Santa Monica-based company through June 30, to ensure a smooth transition. Hsieh’s appointment as president and CEO follows an extensive search process by the board with the assistance of recruitment firm Ferguson Partners.

Board chairman Steven Hash said, “Jackson is a seasoned real estate executive and he is an outstanding choice to succeed Tom. Most recently, Jackson was the president & CEO of Spirit Realty Capital where he led the successful merger of Spirit with Realty Income Corporation through an all-stock transaction valued at an enterprise value of approximately $9.3 billion.

“The merger with Realty Income followed Spirit’s successful sale of $4.7 billion in non-core assets, including the spin-off of approximately $2.9 billion in assets into a separate publicly traded company and acquired over $6.2 billion in retail and industrial assets to create a high-quality diversified real estate portfolio. Prior to Spirit, Jackson spent over 25 years in global lodging and real estate investment banking, having successful careers at a number of prestigious investment banks.”