Northlake Mall Has Been Sold, New Owner Sees "Tremendous Potential"

Suburban mall changes hands.

Northlake Mall near Tucker has been sold to Dallas, Texas based ATR Corinth Partners.

The two story mall, originally built in 1971, was for many years owned by mall powerhouse Simon Property Group.  In 2014, Northlake Mall and a host of other "underperforming assets" in Simon's portfolio were spun off into what was then a newly created REIT, Washington Prime Group.  Last year, Washington Prime Group completed its acquisition of Glimcher Realty Trust, forming WP Glimcher.  

WP Glimcher announced February 1st that it had sold Northlake Mall and Forest Mall in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin to "private real estate investors" for $30 million. The release indicated that WP viewed both properties as Simon did before, referring to both as "non-core assets." 

Forest Mall, another former Simon mall, opened in 1973, and is anchored by Younkers, Kohl's, and Staples.

Northlake Mall is located off I-285, bordered by Briarcliff Road and Northlake Parkway,  and is today anchored by JCPenney, Sears, Kohl's and Macy's. 

Rather than publish a post with more questions than answers, I dug deeper and confirmed that ATR Corninth Partners has purchased both malls. Dallas, Texas based ATR is a real estate management and investment company with extensive experience in commercial real estate, but with no holdings previously in metro Atlanta.

I spoke to ATR's co-founder and partner Anthony "Tony" Ruggeri, who said that while his firm's plans for the mall are in their "infancy stage," he does see "tremendous potential" in the mall and its property.  Ruggeri said he and his team did "tons of research" in advance of their purchase and liked what they saw in both the demographics and the amenities of the surrounding Tucker/Northlake area.  

Additionally, Ruggeri expressed interest in knowing what the community would like to see happen to the mall.  While I can all but guarantee you that your comments will be read, suggesting things like Barnes & Noble, Trader Joe's or Whole Foods will likely not be taken seriously.  

Macy's (former Davison's) at Northlake Mall 

The Northlake area is in the midst of a resurgence of sorts with a number of projects either underway or recently completed.  Northlake Mall lies in area that would have been included in the ill-fated City of LaVista Hills.  Across I-285 on Northlake Parkway, within the newly created City of Tucker, "The Meridian at Tucker" has broken ground.  The 200,000 square foot shopping center will be anchored by Dick's Sporting Goods and Hobby Lobby and will also feature ROSS Dress For Less and DSW, among other tenants.  

A large apartment complex is under construction on Weems Road on the site of the former Siemens complex, while ALDI plans to open a new store in a portion of the current Best Buy in nearby Northlake Square shopping center. A new Pollo Tropical is planned for an outparcel of the Target at the corner of LaVista Road and Northlake Parkway, and an Home2 Suites by as yet undetermined Hilton hotel is planned for Northlake Parkway on the backside of the mall. (I previously reported this would be a Home2 Suites by Hilton but the Northlake overlay district prevents that as it is an extended stay hotel.)

Over the past few years, a number of quick-serve restaurants have opened in the area including Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Panda Express and Chick-fil-A.   

ATR currently owns and manages a number of malls and shopping centers across the country including West Manchester Mall in York, Pennsylvania and Spring Creek Village in College Station, Texas.  

One property Ruggeri was especially proud of was One Hundred Oaks, a mixed-use property in Nashville, Tennessee.

ATR acquired the two story property, then known as  "100 Oaks Mall," in 2006.  In severe decline with 45% occupancy, a 57 acre site to the south of the city and adjacent to I-65, the center was revitalized by redeveloping it into a mixed-use property. "Approximately 450,000 square feet of the second and third floors were reconfigured to provide space for 20 medical clinics and accounting, billing and other administrative offices for Vanderbilt University Medical Center. After construction of a new façade and other extensive site upgrades, including ingress/egress improvements and the addition of two pad sites for restaurants, the remaining space (approximately 441,000 square feet) was occupied by a mix of retail tenants. Occupancy of the property had been raised to more than 99% by the time it was sold" (in 2012).  

I recently visited Nashville and happened to visit One Hundred Oaks.  While I don't think Northlake Mall offers the same space or visibility as One Hundred Oaks, it definitely opened my eyes to the "out of the box" possibilities for Northlake.  

The two-level Sears at Northlake Mall 

One rumor that has been percolating in the Northlake area involves Kroger's interest in moving their existing store on LaVista Road to a portion of the current Sears at Northlake Mall.  I've heard this rumor for months, since shortly after the news of the similar plan at Cumberland Mall.  While the Cumberland Mall plan is indefinitely on hold due to a change in ownership of the store's real estate, the Northlake Sears offers a similarly attractive location and room for a Kroger fuel center thanks to its outparcel auto center. Kroger maintains a division office on Parkway Drive, less than a mile from Northlake Mall.  

As was the case at Cumberland, Sears owns their "box," or the property on which their store is located, and therefore could influence the plans ATR puts together.  Macy's also owns their "box," and utilizes the upper floor of their store for regional offices.  JCPenney and Kohl's, which opened in place of Parisian, lease their space from the mall.  JCPenney is an original tenant, while the former Parisian space was added to the mall in the early 90s, replacing a Piccadilly Cafeteria, among other tenants.   

Electric vehicle charging stations just outside Kohl's at Northlake Mall

The two level mall has suffered from decreased traffic, changing demographics and an overall shift to online purchasing.  The mall was once home to established chain retailers and restaurants including Gap, Old Navy, Arby's, Ruby Tuesday and Chick-fil-A, among others, but all have since closed.  

Northlake Festival, located near Northlake Mall, suffers from a similar decrease in traffic and productivity following the closures of  Toys Я Us, Haverty's, Bally Total Fitness and a host of other restaurants and retailers. 

I grew up in nearby Sagamore Hills and spent many days at Northlake Mall.  Whether it was at Gap, Stamp & Coin, the Georgia Power store, Waldenbooks, Sanrio Surprises, or Blockbuster Music, Northlake was the mall I visited most in my youth. 

Mall ownership seems to have simply given up on fixing this prominent sign 

A recent Bloomberg article on the sickness (and health) of malls compared the sales per square foot of Lenox Square and Northlake Mall, and you can imagine what the results were.  The article claims that Lenox Square (1.5 1.6 million square feet) generates just north of $1,000 per square foot, while Northlake (1 million square feet) generates $240 per square foot.  (A well placed source indicated that the reported sales figures were slightly low for Lenox and possibly slightly high for Northlake.)  

*The sales figures provided are likely exclusive of sales generated at each mall's anchor stores, sales figures traditionally counted separately from the main mall tenants.  

What would you like to see happen at Northlake Mall? What is your fondest memory of Northlake Mall?  If you live in the Northlake/Tucker area, where do you do most of your shopping?  

Please share your thoughts below.