Northlake Mall sold, redevelopment possible

Northlake Mall, the suburban shopping center at Briarcliff and Lavista roads in north DeKalb County, has been sold to a Texas-based real estate company that said it sees redevelopment potential.

Tony Ruggeri, a partner at mall buyer ATR Corinth Partners, said the firm isn’t sure what future development of the site might entail. But his firm has experience in updating aging and poor performing retail centers and incorporating new merchants, restaurants, entertainment offerings and alternative uses, such as medical facilities.

The deal closed Jan. 29, Ruggeri said. Terms were not disclosed, but prior owner WP Glimcher said in a news release it sold two malls, including Northlake, for a combined purchase price of $30 million.

Ruggeri said mall patrons can expect to see landscaping and other upgrades at the mall in the near term, but over time the company expects to make significant investments.

Ruggeri said his firm acquired the nearly 1 million-square-foot mall, its first Atlanta area property, because of population growth around the Northlake area and the improving Atlanta real estate market.

“We’re looking at every possibility at Northlake to see what would fit in the market and what the market is asking for,” he said. The mall has anchors including Sears, JCPenney, Macy’s and Kohl’s.

One of ATR Corinth’s past redevelopment projects was an aging mall in Nashville, Tenn., called One Hundred Oaks Mall, where the firm leased a large portion of space to Vanderbilt University Medical Center for clinics and office space.