Santa Monica, CA-based Macerich Company (MAC) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates shopping centers throughout the US. Macerich's properties are concentrated in Arizona and California, and in 2005 it acquired competitor Wilmorite's foothold of properties in Virginia and New Jersey. Macerich focuses on high-performing markets - its tenants averaged sales of $472 per square foot in 2007, well ahead of the national average of $398 - and this lets the company charge above average rents to the tenants in its portfolio.^[1][2]

As of year-end 2007, MAC owned 74 regional shopping centers and 20 community shopping centers with approximately 78 million square feet of gross leasable area.^[3] MAC's malls, in addition to their location in high-growth suburban markets, are typically large enough (almost 900,000 square feet on average for the company's wholly owned regional shopping centers) to be considered town centers.^[4] High foot traffic to these centers help MAC's tenants meet their sales numbers and allow MAC to continue to charge high rents on its properties.

The commercial real estate market has suffered in 2008, due to the weakening U.S. Economy.^[5] This is a risk to MAC, as the retail stores that its tenants operate focus on consumer luxury or discretionary goods. When compared to other retail REITs, MAC is in in the middle of the pack in terms of size and the breadth of its geographic focus, but it differs from its peers by focusing on markets with higher per capita income. MAC expanded aggressively in 2007, acquiring over $900M in new properties. It is likely to continue this expansion in 2008, with a $536M development pipeline, although a credit crunch may be an obstacle to financing these projects.

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