Time Equities Inc., a New York investor, completed its first Bay Area purchase by picking up the Somersville Towne Center, a Macy’s-anchored shopping center in Antioch, for $12.34 million or about $44 per square foot.

The 283,289 square-foot shopping center at 2500-2638 Somersville Rd., was about 74 percent occupied when Time Equities bought it from the seller, Macerich, the Denver-based company that owns Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek and Northgate in San Rafael.

“The Somersville Towne Center is already home to major players in the retail industry,” said Ami Ziff, Time Equities director of national retail. “Time Equities plans to renovate the mall to help attract new retailers and drive foot traffic.”

The center houses more than 50 tenants such as Starbucks, Forever 21, Victoria’s Secret, 24 Hour Fitness, Foot Locker, Zales and Bath & Body Works. Macy’s anchors the center, but owns its building.

Time Equities found the property on Auction.com, a real estate listing site, where it was marketed by Palmer Capital.

Ziff said his firm was drawn to Somersville Towne Center because of its location in the Bay Area and potential to add value.

“We feel that we could take it to the next level by creating an even fresher look,” he said. The firm plans to spend at least $1 million on upgrades to the interior and exterior.

Antioch, a city of about 100,000 people, was hit hard by the recent foreclosure crisis, but Ziff said the market has improved and BART is working on an expansion to Antioch on the Pittsburg/Baypoint line.

“Our assessment of the market is that (Antioch) has already passed the bottom and we feel that there are a lot of positive things happening,” he said. “In general, it’s a strong market with a nice quality life.”

Like in other parts of the Bay Area, the housing market is recovering and that has led to more retail leasing in the past few years, said John Sechser, a retail broker with Transwestern’s East Bay office.