Savannah Mall Auction (Atlanta, Pooler, Montgomery: for sale, real estate, 2013)

[ajc100890]

https://www.wsav.com/video/with-sava...-land/7822768/

The Savannah Mall is up for sale, again... Initially developed in the late 80s by a mall developer out of Kentucky, the mall has continued to shed businesses over the last 20 years. There are a lot of recent newcomers on this forum, so here's a brief history of the mall.

Talks of a second mall in Savannah began swirling in the early 80s. By then, single-story malls were considered old-fashioned. Multistory facilities were considered much more modern. Two developers started looking at building malls. Maryland-based The Rouse Company, which developed Augusta Mall in Augusta and Perimeter Mall in Atlanta, looked at 85 acres of land that eventually became South Chase or, more commonly, the Southside Home Depot and Lowe's. In 1987 momentum was building to block the development of what was going to be called "South Lake Mall." With a recession and public opposition, The Rouse Company abandoned the development. In 1993 Home Depot, Lowe's, and Rhode's Furniture relocated from older stores near Oglethorpe Mall. Target was supposed to go on 12 acres of land to the east of Lowe's, but the company backed out because the Truman Parkway would ultimately require right of way from the property.

Meanwhile, Kentucky-based David Hocker & Associates began planning what was initially called the Forest River Mall down the road. At some point, The Savannah Mall became the name. Tenants would include Belk (originally planned to relocate from Oglethorpe Mall), Augusta-based JB White, Richmond, VA-based Miller & Rhoads, and Boston-based Jordan Marsh. Jordan Marsh had acquired a small Savannah department store, Levy's (whose first branch is now the SCAD library), in 1986.

Miller & Rhoads filed bankruptcy in 1990, and all southern Jordan Marsh stores were rebranded Burdine's or Rich's in 1991. After relocating to Savannah Mall, Rich's built a new store at Oglethorpe Mall in 1992. This is the present-day Macy's.

So come August 29, 1990, the Savannah Mall opened with two anchors and about 70% occupancy. The mall's stores were far too sophisticated for Savannah at the time. Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic, The Disney Store, and Benetton all had locations in the mall. The rest of the stores were repeats of stores at the Oglethorpe Mall -- Gap, Lerner, Lane Bryant, Radio Shack, Spencer's, etc.

Management did backfill Miller & Rhoads with Birmingham-based Parisian and Jordan Marsh with national tenant Montgomery Ward in 1991. Unfortunately, 1991 also saw massive reorganizations of the military bases, the first Iraq war, and a recession. The economic growth that was expected for Savannah stalled. Remember, this was before the tourism industry took off downtown. In the early 90s, Savannah's biggest employers, outside of Gulfstream, were the military, the hospitals, and the school board. The mall was sold to the Savannah Teacher's Union this same year. This likely began the 30-year spiral into irrelevance.

Almost immediately, stores began leaving Savannah Mall. They were backfilled with middle-of-the-road national chains or local stores. Montgomery Ward closed with the first wave of closings before its eventual bankruptcy in 1998. JB White was acquired by Dillard's also in 1998. The Banana Republic relocated Downtown in 2000, and Abercrombie closed up shop in 2004. Belk and Parisian closed in 2003, leaving the mall with one anchor. Management lured Target (which was still looking for a site ten years later) to take over Belk, and Bass Pro Shops took over Parisian. Rumor has it that Bass Pro was offered free rent for a specific time and only had to pay common area maintenance and utilities.

Anyway, from here, the story is pretty much the same. Stores come and go, but more are leaving than arriving. By the 2010s, the mall (aside from the anchors) are essentially mom and pop. The national trend is to shop online, which only exacerbates the hemorrhaging of stores. Then COVID happened, which just sucked the life out of the mall. In the WSAV video, you can see buckets collecting water from roof leaks. I think the current owners have just given up.

Here we are 32 years after the mall's opening, and the only reason the lights are on in the mall is Target, Bass Pro, and Dillard's maintain customers... for now. Whoever buys this mall needs to consider a massive redevelopment to make this sustainable. I don't think exclusively retail is the answer.

The 70-acre Savannah Mall could be repositioned to build a new Target and Bass Pro on one side of the lot. The remainder of the site should be backfilled with housing and a park. Ironically, another mall built by David Hocker, Shelter Cove Mall on Hilton Head Island, was redeveloped in this exact manner in 2013. Today it's known as Shelter Cove Towne Centre.

[KMBW96]

I hope the City of Savannah purchases the Savannah Mall site and the adjacent/adjoining parcels it needs to invest and create an active space. By using the CNU’s 26 proposal for the Southside retrofit, I think the City has the opportunity to bring more character and life to the city with a mix of private and public development. Branding the area as Savannah’s Uptown would contrast the area from the well established Downtown area and distinguish the Southside’s identity. The new area should be laid out modeling Downtown’s Oglethorpe plan and built out to maximum height, offering amenities such as water recreation on the Little Ogeechee River, shopping, dining, entertainment, residential options, public squares, parks, and gathering spaces to really establish a Southside Gateway into the city proper. The city should also try to partner with the Armstrong Campus of Georgia Southern, the VA & St. Joseph’s Hospitals, HAAF, and include as much community input from the near by Southside neighborhoods in the 5th and 6th districts to really transform the area.

[KMBW96]

https://www.savannahga.gov/DocumentC...it-Plan?bidId=

[ajc100890]

Target must be feeling confident in this auction. They've filed plans for a $2.5M remodel of the 18 year old store.

https://etrac.savannahga.gov/EnerGov...c-bfbe35adb211

I realize they own their site and building, but they wouldn't make an investment like this in something they planned to dispose.

[MadManofBethesda]

The mall was sold today for $8.2M after a three-day auction in which the bidding started at 2.5M. No word yet on who the new owners are or what their plans are.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime...923c2c4d5ccfe9

[ajc100890]

I just hope it isn't someone who's going to sit on it as a real estate holding and let it rot. Everyone has assumed it would be redeveloped, but there are people who (at this price point) just buy real estate to hold it.

The Regency Mall in Augusta is a poster child for this...

https://www.deadmalls.com/malls/regency_mall.html

[ajc100890]

Bass Pro Shop is relocating its Cincinnati location. This is relevant to Savannah, in that the Cincinnati location was also built in a former Parisian at a high-end mall built in the late 80s. Bass Pro took took over the Cincinnati Parisian in 2000.

Bass Pro took over the former Parisian in Savannah three years later. Now that the lease is up at Cincinnati Mall, the location is moving. The plans have been in the works for a while, but plans are now out to bid for the new location.

Next year, the Bass Pro's lease expires in Savannah and I wouldn't be surprised if they move given the pending sale of the mall.

[ajc100890]

Per an article in WTOC, the mall itself is closing January 12, 2023. Anchors aren’t affected.

[DanielAvery]

This lady does "dead mall" videos and even she had to acknowledge that Savannah Mall was/is a textbook case. It tends to drag a little (she literally walks the mall, often running out of voice-over commentary) but someone like me who remembers it in its prime will find it interesting. She apparently visited right before they claim it was being closed down for good, but I have no idea if that actually happened.

https://youtu.be/zbopuhVbano

[ajc100890]

Yea, I saw this video. There's a lot of these dead mall walkers.

The last time I checked, the mall itself is locked and the lights are off. The anchors have sealed themselves off from the mall. Bass Pro for instance placed display fixtures in front of the mall doors and removed the mall-side registers.

Interesting fact... I recently saw that Target requested to void its permit for renovations at its Savannah Mall store. The store hasn't been updated in 20 years. Usually, when a chain doesn't invest in a store, it's planning to close or relocate the asset.

Meanwhile, there is a mysterious big-box planned for the corner of Pine Barren Road and Pooler Pkwy next to a new Wawa. Mayor Benton also made mention to a "new" type of big box coming. I wonder if this could mean Target is finally planning to relocate to Pooler. That would allow the new mall owners to acquire the Target parcel and make redevelopment easier.