Rooker Buys 90-Acre Mall Site in Atlanta for Redevelopment

y Scott Baltic, Contributing Editor

Shannon Mall, a 764,000-square-foot property on a 90-acre site in Union City, Ga., south of Atlanta, has been purchased by Rooker, an Atlanta-based real estate development and construction company, which plans to redevelop the property, Rooker announced Friday.

The sellers were Sears, Roebuck and Co. Inc., Lee Group USA L.L.C., MB-REO Retail L.L.C. and MB-REO Land L.L.C. The sale price was not disclosed, nor any estimate on the redevelopment’s price tag.

Sim Doughtie of King Industrial Realty represented Rooker, and Chris Becker of Newmark Grubb Knight Frank represented the sellers.

Rooker plans to target consumer products, e-commerce and other businesses at the site, which is adjacent to I-85 in South Fulton County and will accommodate more than 1.2 million square feet of commercial development.

Rooker CEO John Rooker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that his company plans to demolish the mall and redevelop it initially as an industrial/business park, but with the possibility of retail, hotel and residential space on outparcels. Conceptual designs are under way now and will precede any demolition, though the project will begin this year, he told the AJ-C.

Colliers International will market the property for consumer products, e-commerce, technology and other business uses, with a team led by Sean Boswell, Darren Ross and Scott Plomgren of Colliers’ Industrial Services group in Atlanta.

The Shannon Mall redevelopment site will be eligible to receive Opportunity Zone tax savings from Union City of up to $3,500 per job created and is also eligible for other incentives.

The property opened in 1980 as Union Station Mall. The name was changed to Shannon Southpark Mall in 2007, after the property was sold and renovated the previous year.

After years of struggling to hold onto tenants, by late 2010 the mall was down to just two anchors, Sears and Macy’s. Power to the mall was cut off in early November 2010, after the mall’s then owner, Lee Najjar, failed to pay the electric bill.

A foreclosure notice gave the debt on the mall at about $15.6 million, according to the AJ-C, which later reported that MB REO-GA bought the mall for $5 million at the foreclosure sale.

via:http://www.cpexecutive.com/regions/southeast/rooker-buys-90-acre-mall-site-in-atlanta-for-redevelopment/