Alexander & Baldwin Inc. has become the second-largest owner and operator of retail property in Hawaii, after the completion Tuesday of its previously announced purchase of Pearl Highlands Center.

Honolulu-based A&B bought the 415,000-square-foot shopping center in Pearl City for $141.5 million from an affiliate of Boston-based real estate investment firm AEW Capital Management.

The deal included assuming a $59.3 million mortgage. A&B said the balance of the cost is coming from proceeds from sales by A&B of commercial property on the mainland and land parcels in Hawaii.

The acquisition is part of a strategy by A&B to expand its portfolio of income-producing commercial real estate in Hawaii while selling similar properties on the mainland.

Earlier this year A&B bought the 170,000-square-foot Wai­anae Mall in West Oahu for $30 million and the 46,000-square-foot Napili Plaza on Maui for $19 million.

Pearl Highlands boosts A&B’s portfolio of Hawaii commercial real estate by 25 percent to about 2 million square feet and makes A&B the second-largest retail landlord in the state, the company said.

General Growth Properties, owner of Ala Moana Center, is the largest retail property owner in Hawaii.

Pearl Highlands, which is 98 percent leased, is anchored by Sam’s Club, Regal Theaters, Ross Dress for Less and 24 Hour Fitness.

Japanese-based Take­naka International Ltd. developed Pearl Highlands in 1993, and the center struggled financially in its early years. Over the past two decades, the property changed ownership and underwent upgrades several times.

The center was initially sold in 2000 to pension fund LaSalle Investment Management for $62.4 million.

Then in 2004 a Morgan Stanley investment fund bought the property for about $114 million.

AEW Capital paid about $137 million to acquire the center in 2006, according to property rec­ords.