Westwood Financial
Westwood Financial is a privately held retail real estate investment firm founded in 1970 that owns, acquires, and operates 120+ grocery-anchored shopping centers across Sunbelt markets, serving accredited investors through multiple fund vehicles and a diversified tenant base of 1,500+ retailers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1970
- HeadquartersLos Angeles, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Westwood Financial does
Westwood Financial is a privately held retail real estate investment firm founded in 1970 by Howard Banchik and Steven Fogel, headquartered in Los Angeles, California. The firm operates as a fully integrated owner, operator, and acquirer of grocery-anchored necessity-based shopping centers, with a portfolio of 120-127+ properties encompassing 9.5M+ square feet and 1,500+ tenants across 15+ states. Westwood concentrates on high-growth Sunbelt metropolitan markets including Atlanta, Austin, Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, Orlando, Phoenix, and Raleigh, with regional offices in Scottsdale, Dallas, and Sandy Springs (Atlanta) supporting local leasing and property management execution.
The firm operates multiple investment vehicles to serve accredited and institutional investors: the Westwood Property Fund (grocery-anchored core holdings, $1.5B AUM, 70 assets, 10+ year hold), the Value-Add Fund (open-air retail with operational upside, $100M AUM, 13-15% target returns), the Hilgard Single-Tenant Net Lease Fund ($45M AUM, 19 assets), and Individual Investments distributed via CrowdStreet and direct channels. Revenue is generated primarily through rental income from leased retail space, management fees on the funds, and capital gains from a disciplined capital recycling program that has executed over $4 billion in transactions across 400+ assets. Anchor tenants include top-tier grocers (Kroger, Publix, Sprouts, Tom Thumb, Safeway, Food Lion, Harris Teeter, Central Market) and large service/experiential operators (Target, Ace Hardware, PetSmart, Sky Zone, McDonald's, CareNow).
Leadership includes CEO K.C. Bills (appointed June 2025), COO Lauren Ball, CFO Juyuan Wei, and Co-Chairmen/Founders Howard Banchik and Steve Fogel. The firm was supported by a $470 million corporate credit facility as of December 2025, expanded from $255M in 2022, and reported 97.6% leased occupancy and 5.9% same-store NOI growth for full-year 2025. Westwood's GTM approach is sales-led: deal sourcing occurs through broker relationships, ICSC events, and off-market opportunities, with capital raised directly from qualified investors via the firm's investor relations team and platforms such as CrowdStreet.
Westwood Financial firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Westwood Financial
- Legal name
- Westwood Financial
- Website
- https://westfin.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1970
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Westwood Financial is a privately held retail real estate investment firm founded in 1970 that owns, acquires, and operates 120+ grocery-anchored shopping centers across Sunbelt markets, serving accredited investors through multiple fund vehicles and a diversified tenant base of 1,500+ retailers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Westwood Financial industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Commercial Real Estate Investment
- NAICS
- Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Other Financial Investment Activities (5239)
- SIC
- Real Estate Dealers (For Their Own Account) (6532), Investors, Nec (6799)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Real Estate Portfolio & Fund Management (Institutional/REIT/PE) (BPAJAMAJ)
Keywords
Where Westwood Financial is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Los Angeles
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices4 records
Markets served
Westwood Financial business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- Rental Income: Primary revenue from leasing retail space to tenants in grocery-anchored shopping centers. Tenants include grocers, service operators, and experiential retailers. Income is generated through base rent and percentage rent arrangements.
- Property Management Fees: Revenue from managing shopping centers for the firm's investment funds and potentially external clients.
- Capital Gains from Property Dispositions: The firm generates returns through its capital recycling program, selling properties after value creation and reinvesting proceeds into new acquisitions in high-growth markets.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Grocery Anchored Centers: $15 to $50 million deal size |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Strip Centers: $8 to $15 million deal size |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Single-Tenant Net Lease: $2 to $10 million deal size |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Westwood Property Fund: High-quality grocery-anchored centers with 10+ year hold period |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Value-Add Fund: Open-air retail with 13-15% target returns |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Hilgard Single-Tenant Net Lease Fund: 5-7 year hold period |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Individual Investments: Single asset exposure with 10-13% target returns |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels9 records
Westwood Financial product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Westwood Financial is a fully integrated owner/operator of high-quality grocery-anchored retail shopping centers in top U.S. Sunbelt metropolitan markets. The firm acquires, owns, and manages 120+ shopping centers totaling over 9.5 million square feet across 15 high-growth states, anchoring its portfolio with top-tier grocers and service-oriented tenants. It distributes retail real estate exposure to institutional investors through a family of investment funds (Westwood Property Fund, Value-Add Fund, Hilgard Single-Tenant Net Lease Fund) and individual single-asset syndications.
Product overview
Westwood Financial operates as a retail real estate investment firm offering a family of investment vehicles managed through its integrated real estate platform. The core offering consists of the Westwood Property Fund (a $1.5B grocery-anchored shopping center fund), the Value-Add Fund (a $100M opportunistic retail fund), the Hilgard Single-Tenant Net Lease Fund (a $45M single-tenant net lease fund), and Individual Investments (single-asset syndication opportunities). Together, these products provide investors with diversified exposure to grocery-anchored and service-oriented retail centers across high-growth Sunbelt markets, with strategies ranging from stabilized core holdings to value-add and net lease assets.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Westwood Property Fund: High-quality, grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers with longer hold period (10+ years)
- Hilgard Single-Tenant Net Lease Fund
- Value-Add Fund
- Individual Investments
Products and services
- Westwood Property Fund A high-quality, grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping center fund offering investors asset diversification and commercial real estate exposure within high-growth markets across 11 states. The fund has approximately $1.5 billion in assets under management with 70 assets and a 10+ year hold period. Target returns: 7%+ cash-on-cash and 12-15% total returns. Currently closed to new investors.
- Value-Add Fund An open-air retail fund focusing on properties with existing income but offering opportunities for improvement via operational enhancements, market repositioning, lease-up, or redevelopment. Target returns of 13-15% total with $100 million in assets under management across 4-5 assets and a 3-5 year hold period.
- Hilgard Single-Tenant Net Lease Fund A single-tenant net lease fund focused on acquiring high-quality, single-tenant net lease assets with longer-term leases. Each property has a sole tenant resulting in minimal management costs. Holds 19 assets across eight states nationwide with $45 million in assets under management and a 5-7 year hold period. Currently closed.
- Individual Investments Single asset investment opportunities providing investors exposure to specific grocery-anchored retail centers. Target cash-on-cash returns of 7-9% and total returns of 10-13%, with $15-50 million average deal size and 3-5 year hold period. Distributed through direct sales and the CrowdStreet online marketplace.
Quantifiable outcome
- 5.9% same-store NOI growth in 2025
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Westwood Financial
Customer profileNamed customers31 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Westwood Financial technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Westwood Financial partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators19 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Westwood Financial competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Phillips Edison & Company: Public REIT (NASDAQ: PECO) that owns and operates grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers across the U.S. Closest direct peer in terms of asset profile, tenant strategy, and Sunbelt-anchored geographic focus.
- Regency Centers Corporation: Public REIT (NASDAQ: REG) that owns grocery-anchored shopping centers in affluent, densely populated trade areas. Closely aligned strategy of necessity-based retail with high-credit grocery anchors.
- Kite Realty Group: Public REIT (NYSE: KRG) focused on open-air grocery-anchored shopping centers in high-growth markets. Comparable in geographic focus and tenant mix to Westwood's portfolio.
- Brixmor Property Group: Public REIT (NYSE: BRX) owning a national portfolio of open-air shopping centers anchored by grocers. Comparable scale, capital recycling activity, and grocery-anchored investment thesis.
- Retail Opportunity Investments Corp: Public REIT (NASDAQ: ROIC) that owns grocery-anchored shopping centers on the West Coast and select East Coast markets. Comparable grocery-anchored necessity-retail strategy.
- InvenTrust Properties Corp: Private (PE-owned) retail REIT owning grocery-anchored, necessity-based shopping centers concentrated in the Sunbelt. Strongly comparable to Westwood in geography, asset strategy, and operating model.
- Federal Realty Investment Trust: Public REIT (NYSE: FRT) that owns high-quality shopping centers, including mixed-use and grocery-anchored assets. Comparable in portfolio quality and tenant credit orientation.
- Acadia Realty Trust: Public REIT (NYSE: AKR) that owns grocery-anchored and street retail properties. Comparable mixed-tenant strategy and focus on necessity-based retail sub-sectors.
- Urban Edge Properties: Public REIT (NYSE: UE) operating grocery-anchored shopping centers in densely populated urban and suburban markets. Similar tenant rosters and urban-infill focus overlap with Westwood's properties.
Broad incumbents
- Kimco Realty: Large public REIT (NYSE: KIM) and one of the largest shopping center owners in North America. Overlaps in grocery-anchored retail but operates at materially larger scale and broader mandate.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Westwood Financial social profiles
Digital presenceWestwood Financial financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Westwood Financial leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles17 records
Westwood Financial subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries4 records
Westwood Financial funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors5 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Westwood Financial M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Westwood Financial
What does Westwood Financial do?
Westwood Financial is a fully integrated owner/operator of high-quality grocery-anchored retail shopping centers in top U.S. Sunbelt metropolitan markets. The firm acquires, owns, and manages 120+ shopping centers totaling over 9.5 million square feet across 15 high-growth states, anchoring its portfolio with top-tier grocers and service-oriented tenants. It distributes retail real estate exposure to institutional investors through a family of investment funds (Westwood Property Fund, Value-Add Fund, Hilgard Single-Tenant Net Lease Fund) and individual single-asset syndications.
Is Westwood Financial a public or private company?
Westwood Financial is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Westwood Financial founded?
Westwood Financial was founded in 1970. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Westwood Financial based?
Westwood Financial is headquartered in Los Angeles, United States, in the North America region.
How does Westwood Financial make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Rental Income is the primary driver. The others are property Management Fees and capital Gains from Property Dispositions.
Who are Westwood Financial's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Phillips Edison & Company, Regency Centers Corporation, Kite Realty Group, Brixmor Property Group, Retail Opportunity Investments Corp, InvenTrust Properties Corp, Federal Realty Investment Trust, Acadia Realty Trust and Urban Edge Properties. Kimco Realty is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Westwood Financial have an API?
No public API is recorded for Westwood Financial.
What industry is Westwood Financial in?
Westwood Financial's product category is Commercial Real Estate Investment. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAJAMAJ, Real Estate Portfolio & Fund Management (Institutional/REIT/PE). Its NAICS code is 5259 and its SIC code is 6532.