CBL CBL and Associates Properties Inc

CBL & Associates Properties Inc. (CBL) recently announced its plan to start construction of its new community center Waynesville Commons, a 127,500-square-foot project in Waynesville, North Carolina. The initial site work is already under way and the center is expected to open in October 2012.

The new community center will be anchored by a new 85,000 square foot Belk fashion department store, in addition to the existing Walmart. This will also be accompanied by another 11,000 square feet of specialty stores.  Belk Inc is the nation’s largest privately owned mainline department store company with 303 Belk stores located in 16 southern states.

Belk will relocate from its current 50,000-square-foot store at Ingles Market to a new 85,000-square-foot store at Waynesville Commons. The Belk store will offer expanded merchandise assortments and the latest retail design store with all exclusive brands. Apart from the Belk fashion store, the center will feature two new stores - Michaels and PetSmart.

There is a growing demand in the local retail markets and Waynesville Commons is perfectly placed to cater to this demand. Located on the intersection of an Interstate, the new center spans a total land area of 13acres.

CBL is one of the largest and most active owners and developers of malls and shopping centers in the United States. CBL owns interests in or manages 158 properties, including 85 regional malls/open-air centers. The properties are located in 27 states and  spans 85.3 million square feet.

CBL currently retains a Zacks #3 Rank, which translates into a short-term Hold rating. We are also maintaining our long-term Neutral recommendation on the stock. One of its competitors, Simon Property Group Inc (SPG) also holds a Zacks #3 Rank.

 
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