A pension fund for workers in Australia has become part-owner of Hawaii’s largest shopping center.

AustralianSuper bought a 25 percent interest in Ala Moana Center from Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc. for $907 million Friday.

General Growth announced the sale Monday and said it might sell another 12.5 percent stake within 60 days to give up 37.5 percent of the mall where a new wing, including a Bloomingdale’s department store, is expected to open this year.

While theChicago firm will continue managing Ala Moana Center, the sale represents the first change in ownership of the mall since General Growth bought the trophy property from Japanese retail giant Daiei Inc. for $810 million in 1999.

Based on the partial sale to AustralianSuper, General Growth said the value of Ala Moana Center is about $5.5 billion.

General Growth is receiving proceeds from the sale in two parts: $670 million upfront and $237 million late next year after the mall expansion is substantially complete.

Expansion work at Ala Moana Center will add about 660,000 square feet of retail space and more parking in a new Ewa wing replacing a Sears store and parking. The mall now has about 2.2 million square feet of retail and office space.

Besides the first Bloomingdale’s store in Hawaii, other tenants in the new wing will include a relocated Nordstrom store.

Sandeep Mathrani, General Growth’s CEO, said in a recent conference call with stock market analysts that Bloomingdale’s is expected to open in the fourth quarter, followed by Nordstrom in next year’s first quarter. Mathrani also said smaller retail spaces between anchor stores is 80 to 85 percent pre-leased.

The mall owner said it will use the $670 million to repay debt within the next two months. Proceeds from the potential additional sale would fund a pending acquisition, General Growth said.

The company has about $365 million in mortgages maturing this year on five malls. In 2012, General Growth refinanced the mortgage on Ala Moana Center with a $1.4 billion loan maturing in 2022.

General Growth owns 128 retail properties, including Prince Kuhio Plaza on Hawaii island and Whalers Village on Maui. Many of the company’s malls are co-owned with partners. Ala Moana Center was the company’s largest wholly owned property, and generates one of the highest levels of sales in the retail industry at $1,350 per square foot of store space.

AustralianSuper is the largest pension fund in Australia, with investments totaling about $65 billion ($84 billion in Australian dollars) and more than 2 million members, including private-sector employees and the self-employed.

The fund made its first direct investment in a retail center in 2013 when it paid $490 million Australian dollars for 50 percent of thecentre:mk, a regional mall near London.