JMA, founded in 1986, has interests in hospitality, leisure, residential developments, retail, office and industrial/telecom projects.

JMA’s portfolio includes some of the premier venues in the Bay Area and Lake Tahoe regions, including Alpine Meadows and Homewood Mountain Ski Resort.

It also oversees Fairmont Heritage Place at Ghirardelli Square in San Francisco and the Waterbar and EPIC Roasthouse restaurants on San Francisco’s Embarcadero waterfront.

Todd Chapman, president and CEO of JMA, said early Friday evening that he could not comment on any Sacramento-area transactions that were not finalized.

However, sources familiar with the deal confirmed that JMA was the prospective buyer. Financial terms of the pending purchase are as yet unknown.

The city of Sacramento has long hoped to see a buyer for the plaza, which has substantial vacant space and was hit hard by the recession. City officials have said they hope a new owner will spruce up the shopping complex and create a public draw to the downtown core.

While commercial real estate circles buzzed with anticipation of a plaza buyer for much of the day on Friday, confirmation was hard to come by.

Westfield Group declined to comment. Executives in the area’s commercial real estate industry declined to speak on the record.

However, one real estate official, who insisted on remaining anonymous, offered this: “All I can tell you is that the Westfield deal is done. It’s a good-news story, and Sacramento will love it when they’re ready to make the announcement.”

Michael Ault, executive director of the Downtown Sacramento Partnership, said he had not heard that JMA was the potential buyer, and stressed that it would be “way premature” to say the center is sold, since such deals can fall apart.

The fate of the nearly 1 million-square-foot Downtown Plaza has bounced around the rumor mill for months.

Last spring, Connecticut-based Starwood Capital Group, owner of Starwood Hotels Resorts, was at the top of the prospective plaza buyer list, including in a Wall Street Journal story of a possible multimillion-dollar transaction involving 16 other properties.

In another development at the Downtown Plaza, lenders have foreclosed on the building housing Macy’s men’s and furniture store at 600 K St., though the store remains open and will continue to operate as usual for now, according to people working in the store.

Macy’s, which declined to comment, leases the three-story building. It is separate from a nearby Macy’s store that specializes in women’s merchandise.

As for the Macy’s men’s/furniture store, local real estate sources said the landlord owed more than $5 million and an auction seeking approximately that amount did not draw any takers. Public records show the property was owned by an entity known as Foster Associates.

The primary lender was identified as U.S. Bank, which likewise declined comment on Friday.

The first two floors at 600 K St. are used for Macy’s retail sales; the third floor is used as a storage area.

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Article source: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/28/4668436/jma-ventures-said-to-be-buyer.html