Decron Divests Auto Center for $84.5M

Decron Properties has sold El Monte Shopping and Automotive Center, a 473,347-square-foot auto and retail center in El Monte. The buyer was Merlone Geier Partners, which purchased the property for $84.5-million.

The center annually sells 27,000 cars, by combining a traditional promotional shopping center with Longo Lexus, the highest volume Lexus dealership in the western United States. Longo is part of the Penske Motor Group, the nation’s second largest auto group.

Los Angeles-based Decron acquired the struggling shopping center in 1988 for $30.3-million, and completed a multi-million dollar capital improvement and expansion program that repositioned the property as an automotive-focused center.

Savills-Studley Retail Investment Group’s Bill Bauman and Kyle Miller represented Decron Properties, while the buyer represented itself.