New Cincinnati Mills owner plots changes
By Mike Boyer • mboyer@enquirer.com • January 9, 2009
FOREST PARK - The new owner of struggling Cincinnati Mills mall said Friday he doesn't have definite plans for the area's largest enclosed shopping mall but is looking at a number of ideas. They include closing off under-used portions of the facility and leasing space to office and other types of users.
"I have tremendous confidence in Cincinnati. The location is tremendous and the 'sticks and bricks' of the mall are gorgeous," said Tom Robinson, principal of Atlanta-based North Star Realty, which acquired the 1.5 million square-foot mall at Interstate 275 and Winton Road from Simon Property Group on Dec. 30.
Robinson, a 30-year veteran of commercial real estate, has a history of acquiring and redeveloping properties from Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group, the nation's largest commercial real estate company.
He declined to disclose the purchase price for the 20-year-old mall, which has struggled with declining occupancy for years. But he indicated it was considerably less than the $70 million invested in refurbishing the mall in 2004 with the help of $19 million in bond financing through the Port of Greater Cincinnati Development Authority.
"The good thing about that, is that our cost basis is considerably less as well, which allows us to be more innovative on lease rates for tenants," he said.
He said he'd like to make space available to different types of users such as retail entrepreneurs, medical and office tenants and possibly businesses looking for space with parking for employees such as call centers or business back-office operations.
Paul Brehm, Forest Park development director, said the city hasn't talked with the new owner. "We're hopeful he'll come up with a plan to reposition the facility." About two-thirds of the Y-shaped mall is located in Forest Park and the balance is in the city of Fairfield.
"It's still a strong retail site," said Brehm. "But retail is challenging in this economy."
Robinson conceded that. He said the impending closing of Steve & Barry's University Sportswear, one of the mall's anchors along with Bass Pro Shops, Kohl's and Burlington Coat Factory, "was a shock."
He said the mall, originally known as Forest Fair when it was opened in 1988 by Australia-based L J Hooker, will get a name change although the new name hasn't been picked yet.
"We expect to have a marketing plan together in the next 90 days," he said. "We don't have a definite redevelopment plan at this point. We'll see what makes sense."
Despite the mall's location and good appearance, he said "the problem is it's too big."
He said he'll look at closing off under used-portions of the facility and relocating some specialty shops. For example, the east wing, which housed bigg's, once the mall's largest tenant, is largely empty.
Simon and a San Francisco-based hedge fund acquired Cincinnati Mills in 2007 as part of its $1.6 billion purchase of struggling mall developer Mills Corp.
