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On the day Dunham’s Sports — one of the larger remaining tenants at the Towne Mall — closed its doors for the final time, the shopping center’s new owners said they plan to invest between $20 million to $25 million renovating the entire 465,451-square-foot property.
The mall will probably undergo a name change, too, they said.
The Towne Mall, which opened on Ohio 122 near Interstate 75 in 1977, was purchased by SA Mary LLC and Bless Properties LLC, for $850,000 in November 2012. The California-based investors acquired approximately 8 acres, the Dillard’s department store site — a former mall anchor that closed in 2008 — and parking lot for $1.2 million, according to the Warren County Auditor’s Office.
Once deemed a dead mall, Towne Mall is the city’s front door and redeveloping it into a viable shopping option is important to Middletown’s image and future development in the East End, city officials have said.
George Ragheb, one of the investors, said the $20 million to $25 million investment includes the property purchases and renovations to the 13-acre mall property, including subdividing the Dillard’s site. He said much of the cost will be building new walls, installing heating and air conditioning units and bringing the mall up to 2013 codes.
Ragheb said he hopes to have some of the construction done and new tenants in place early in 2014. And though the larger sign still reads “Towne Mall,” he said the mall’s name also will change.
The mall is currently being marketed as The District at Middletown, but the group is considering the name Middletown Galleria.
He also said the mall’s owners are negotiating with several “very significant tenants.”
Trisha Hale, general manager of the Towne Mall, said three new tenants have signed leases at Towne Mall — two retail businesses and one restaurant, though she refused to name them.
The progress the mall has made since it was purchased three months ago is “mind boggling,” Ragheb said.
On Tuesday, Dunham’s Sports, a tenant at the mall for the last 10 years, closed. Ragheb said the lease had expired, and the owners of the Michigan-based sporting goods store and the mall couldn’t reach an agreement on a new lease.
Saying he was “hungry, not desperate,” Ragheb refused Dunham’s lease offer.
He said Kay’s and Roger’s, the mall’s two jewelry stores, and Bath and Body Works have renewed their leases, and by Friday he expects to announce that another national chain, a current mall tenant, will renew its lease for one year. He refused to name the retailer.
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