Milledgeville Mall sale crumbles

Alexander Cain
The Union-Recorder

Mon, May 12 2008

— Milledgeville Mall will remain in the hands of Augusta-based real estate acquisition, management and development company Hull-Storey Retail Group, President and CEO John Gibson said Monday.
“The transaction did not close,” Gibson said, confirming a March 21 report in the Greenwood, S.C., newspaper, The Index-Journal. “We’re delighted to continue to own and operate the mall in Milledgeville.”
Since November, Hull-Storey has been negotiating a $214 million sale of an 11-property, 3.8-million-square-foot, enclosed mall portfolio to Atlanta-based Hendon Properties. When Hull-Storey first announced its deal with Hendon, company principals said they planned to close on the sale in January, but later pushed the closing to mid-March, saying they were confident the sale would occur as announced.
Gibson cited present economic challenges as reason on why the sale fell through.
“It’s a casualty of the credit market and the turmoil being experienced right now in this country,” Gibson said.
The Milledgeville Mall and the Dublin Mall were two of the 11 mall properties listed in the sale.
Other properties in the deal were LaGrange Mall in LaGrange; Statesboro Mall in Statesboro; Regency Square Mall in Florence, Ala.; Blue Ridge Mall in Hendersonville, N.C.,; Twin Rivers Mall in New Bern, N.C.; Wilson Mall in Wilson, N.C.; Greenwood Mall in Greenwood, S.C.; Prince of Orange Mall in Orangeburg, S.C.; and Columbia Mall in Columbia, Tenn.
Hull-Storey and Hendon Properties remained relatively quiet since the November release, preferring to say little on the future of properties listed in the sale or on the status of employees who work for the malls.
Last fall, company President Charlie Hendon said his firm was “evaluating each mall on an individual basis,” but did not disclose details of any potential changes.
The dissolution of the sale now means Hull-Storey will remain owners of Mill-edge-ville Mall for at least the immediate future.
“I think we’ve got a second chance. We’re delighted to do business in Milledgeville, which is a great community, and we’re proud to be a part of the community,” Gibson said.
The Union-Recorder attempted to reach Charlie Hendon, managing owner of Hendon Properties, by telephone Monday but did not receive a response to a message left with Hendon’s office by press time.
Locally, it is still unknown what effect the continued ownership of Milledgeville Mall and Dublin Mall by Hull-Storey could have on the two properties or what, if any, changes could occur now that the malls are no longer on the sales block.
“I’m glad to hear that the mall is still a part of Milledgeville and a part of the Hull-Storey family,” Milledgeville Mall Manager Maggie Stalnaker said. “The Milledgeville Mall always will be a part of the community, and I think that 2008 is going to be a good year for us. As far as I know we will continue to do business as usual.”
Located at 2400 N. Columbia St., the 231,000-square-foot Milledgeville Mall on North Columbia Street was built in 1972 and has been renovated three times, most recently in 2004.
Milledgeville Mall contains nationally known retail chains such as J.C. Penney Co., Belk, Goodys, Waldenbooks and OfficeMax.
Hull-Storey recently built a freestanding Starbucks on mall property and Walgreens is under construction at the corner of Roberson Mill Road and North Columbia Street under Hull-Storey’s HatcherHar.
In November, Hendon said his company would work with Hull-Storey employees once properties exchanged hands.
The 23-year-old Hendon Properties opened for business in 1985 and since has completed several retail projects, including acquisition of the former Best Products, which owned 33 properties in 13 states. The company also has completed commercial real estate deals in New Jersey, South Carolina, Tennessee and across the metro-Atlanta region.
Projects under its management include Decatur’s 628,029-square-foot North DeKalb Mall and Johns Creek Village, a 16-acre 117,315-square-foot multi-use retail, restaurant development also in Decatur. Among its major tenants in Decatur are Rich’s, Burlington Coat Factory, AMC Theatres, Play it Again Sports, T.J. Maxx, LA Fitness and Walgreens.

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