Macerich

Anyone who has ever tramped through a dim, Escher-esque parking garage in search of a "lost" automobile might welcome an abracadabra technology that could help locate it. But what if that magic involved an array of 24/7 surveillance cameras and was also available to police and auto repossessers? What if it could be tapped by jilted lovers, or that angry guy you accidentally cut off in traffic? Would the convenience be worth the loss of privacy? Those are some of the questions civil libertarians and others are asking as technology capable of spying on motorists and pedestrians is converted to widespread commercial use. Santa Monica Place recently unveiled the nation's first camera-based "Find Your Car" system.

At last, a smart parking garage. The Santa Monica Place mall has installed the nation's first camera-based "Find Your Car" technology in its garages to help shoppers who can't remember where they parked. Punch your license plate number into a kiosk touch screen and a photo of your car and its location will appear. (Unless you park on the roof, where there are no cameras.) It will no longer be necessary to leave bread crumbs to find your way back to your car. But could that abundance of camera data be abused by marketing companies, retailers, repo folks and divorce lawyers, all searching for more information on you than where you parked?

Santa Monica-based shopping mall owner Macerich Co. said its first-quarter results improved, lifted by solid occupancy and leasing activity, but fell a penny short of Wall Street's forecast. First-quarter funds from operations (FFO) climbed 19% to $90.1 million, or $1.05 a share, from $76 million, or 99 cents, a year earlier. FFO, a widely used gauge of real estate operating performance, adds depreciation and amortization expenses, as well as other non-operating items, back to net income.

Anyone who has ever tramped through a dim, Escher-esque parking garage in search of a "lost" automobile might welcome an abracadabra technology that could help locate it. But what if that magic involved an array of 24/7 surveillance cameras and was also available to police and auto repossessers? What if it could be tapped by jilted lovers, or that angry guy you accidentally cut off in traffic? Would the convenience be worth the loss of privacy? Those are some of the questions civil libertarians and others are asking as technology capable of spying on motorists and pedestrians is converted to widespread commercial use. Santa Monica Place recently unveiled the nation's first camera-based "Find Your Car" system.

Macerich Co., a Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust that owns stakes in 76 U.S. shopping malls, said Wednesday that it agreed to purchase 11 department store buildings in California, Arizona and Connecticut from Federated Department Stores Inc. Among them are six store sites in Southern California, including Robinsons-May at Santa Monica Place. Cincinnati-based Federated is selling stores it decided to close after acquiring May Department Stores Co. for $11 billion last year.

GenesisIntermedia Inc., a money-losing telemarketing firm, canceled a 9-month-old contract to deploy its Centerlinq Internet kiosks at 27 shopping malls operated by Macerich Co., after placing the kiosks at three locations, according to a regulatory filing. As recently as two weeks ago, Van Nuys-based Genesis said it planned to spend $15 million to $20 million over the next 18 months to expand its Centerlinq network, which operates the kiosks in 32 malls in 18 states.

For nearly two years, construction crews have been drilling, pounding and hammering away at Buenaventura Mall, the 26-year-old regional shopping center in Ventura that is a landmark of western Ventura County. On the face of it, the crews have made progress, installing attractive glass ceilings and renovating the mall's center court and west wing. Next, they're going to refurbish the east wing.

At last, a smart parking garage. The Santa Monica Place mall has installed the nation's first camera-based "Find Your Car" technology in its garages to help shoppers who can't remember where they parked. Punch your license plate number into a kiosk touch screen and a photo of your car and its location will appear. (Unless you park on the roof, where there are no cameras.) It will no longer be necessary to leave bread crumbs to find your way back to your car. But could that abundance of camera data be abused by marketing companies, retailers, repo folks and divorce lawyers, all searching for more information on you than where you parked?

Five months after it was bought by MaceRich Co. of Santa Monica, the 900,000-square-foot Carson Mall has changed hands again, and may get a face lift in the bargain. John Winthrop, former chief executive officer of the MacDonald Group Ltd., which owned the shopping center from 1980 until this May, recently acquired the mall through a new company he formed, Winthrop Investment Properties of Los Angeles. The terms were not disclosed.

Santa Monica-based regional mall operator Macerich Co. said it has purchased and will renovate Huntington Center in Huntington Beach, one of the first covered malls in California. The retail real estate investment trust plans to tear down what had been the Broadway store and build a 20-screen theater, more restaurants and specialty shops. So far no new tenants have been lined up, but the company said it is in negotiations with several theater operators.

Santa Monica-based shopping center operator Macerich Co. will open a $205-million mall near Phoenix today as part of an expansion program in Arizona. SanTan Village is the first of several regional shopping centers the company is building in metropolitan Phoenix. The outdoor mall will include department stores, theaters, restaurants, offices and 130 shops.

Shopping mall owner Macerich Co. reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter profit and said 2007 results would miss Wall Street's forecasts. Macerich's funds from operations, a key profit measure for real estate investment trusts, rose to $124.7 million, or $1.36 a share, from $105.9 million, or $1.32, a year earlier. Analysts had expected funds from operations of $1.46 a share. Net income available to common shareholders rose to $147.9 million, or $1.98 a share, from $23.

Santa Monica-based shopping mall owner Macerich Co. said its first-quarter results improved, lifted by solid occupancy and leasing activity, but fell a penny short of Wall Street's forecast. First-quarter funds from operations (FFO) climbed 19% to $90.1 million, or $1.05 a share, from $76 million, or 99 cents, a year earlier. FFO, a widely used gauge of real estate operating performance, adds depreciation and amortization expenses, as well as other non-operating items, back to net income.

Macerich Co., a Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust that owns stakes in 76 U.S. shopping malls, said Wednesday that it agreed to purchase 11 department store buildings in California, Arizona and Connecticut from Federated Department Stores Inc. Among them are six store sites in Southern California, including Robinsons-May at Santa Monica Place. Cincinnati-based Federated is selling stores it decided to close after acquiring May Department Stores Co. for $11 billion last year.

Macerich Co., a real estate investment trust, said funds from operations grew 11% in the third quarter as it continued to see strong occupancy levels, leasing activity and tenant sales. Funds from operations, which add depreciation and amortization to earnings, increased to $81.1 million, or $1.04 a share, from $72.9 million, or 95 cents, a year earlier. The Santa Monica-based company said net income, after preferred dividends, fell to $4.1 million, or 7 cents a share, from $17.

Shopping center operator Macerich Co. reported a jump in operating income and profit during the fourth quarter as the Santa Monica-based company continued to expand. Funds from operations, a key measure of profitability for real estate investment trusts such as Macerich, were $89.5 million, or $1.16 a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compared with $78.3 million, or $1.04, a year earlier.

Santa Monica-based shopping center owner Macerich Co. on Friday said funds from operations rose in the third quarter on new acquisitions and higher rents from tenants in its malls. Income from operations, a key measure of profitability for real estate investment trusts such as Macerich, rose 14.4%, to $72.9 million, or 95 cents a share, compared with $63.7 million, or 85 cents, a year earlier. The results beat Wall Street estimates by 2 cents.

Macerich Co., a Santa Monica-based operator and owner of shopping malls, has acquired Santa Monica Place for about $130 million, and has sold a half-stake in three of its Southland malls collectively valued at about $550 million to a Canadian pension fund. Both transactions reflect Macerich's emphasis on "clustering" nearby centers to take advantage of buying efficiencies and marketing synergies.

Macerich Co. did some last-minute holiday shopping, announcing Thursday that it had agreed to pay $1.45 billion for controlling stakes in 11 East Coast shopping malls. The Santa Monica-based real estate investment trust said it would buy Wilmorite Properties Inc. and its operating partnership, Wilmorite Holdings, whose holdings include large malls in McLean, Va.; Freehold, N.J., and Danbury, Conn.