Shopping-center owner Equity One says it has closed on the sale of 36 shopping centers for $473.1.

The company, based in North Miami Beach said the deal in involves about 3.9 million square feet that went to Blackstone Real Estate Partners VII. The money will go to reduce debt, fund redevelopment and development projects, and to make new acquisitions, the seller said.

The properties, Equity One said, are mostly in the Atlanta, Tampa and Orlando markets, and additional properties are in North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee and Maryland. Equity One announced plans for the sale in September, when itmlisted all the shopping centers.

CEO Jeff Olson said the sale was a strategic move.

"We are pleased with the progress we made during the year to dispose of non-strategic assets and to redeploy proceeds into our core target markets including New York, Boston, Miami, San Francisco, and Los Angeles,” Olson said in a statement.