The section of Old Aberdeen Road around Columbus Place is on its way to the big highway in the sky to make room for new outparcel tenants at the mall.
During Tuesday night’s city council meeting, the board approved a petition from the Hull Property Group to close and vacate the city’s right-of-way on that part of the road.
City Attorney Jeff Turnage told The Dispatch the city had an easement on the road, which is now vacated. The city will no longer be responsible for maintaining that section.
“The Hull Property Group owns the dirt between (Highway) 45 and Old Aberdeen, from the south end of Lowndes County Radial Tire, up to the entryway on the north side of the road by the Donut Factory,” Turnage said during Mayor Keith Gaskin’s Wednesday press conference.
“That’s the section they asked us to abandon.”
Hull Property Group Vice President of Government Relations John Mulherin told The Dispatch Thursday the group requested the city vacate that section of Old Aberdeen Road as a part of its plan to renovate the mall and attract new tenants to the area.
“We’re very bullish on the market,” Mulherin said. “And secondly, it’s great real estate. We’re a gateway property at the top of that retail corridor.”
Georgia-based Hull Property Group purchased the mall for $3.5 million via online auction in October 2019 and obtained $3.1 million in tax incentives from the city and county in May 2022 to start renovations.
The group has since given the mall an “inside-out” renovation, which is almost complete, removing interior spaces for tenants and creating 13 new outward-facing spaces.
The group purchased the two pieces of property in front of the mall, including a gas station formerly owned by Dutch Oil and another vacant piece of property, Mulherin said. Both are separated from the mall by Old Aberdeen Road.
Mulherin said the property group has submitted a demolition permit to the city to tear down the former convenience store. That demolition permit is still awaiting approval, while utilities are cut off from the old building.
“We’ll be tearing down that old gas station as soon as we can,” Mulherin said. “What that does, with the vacation of Old Aberdeen Road, it gives us the requisite depth then to create additional outparcel opportunities.”
Once that gas station is down, Mulherin said there will be a domino effect of other work the group can accomplish, including creating a new entrance to the mall property connected to Highway 45, demolishing its section of Old Aberdeen Road and creating new pads to attract outparcel tenants.
Mulherin said the work will start “as soon as possible,” though he cannot say exactly when it will start without the demolition permit in hand.
While the group has not yet identified those tenants, Mulherin said, he believes the offering could attract national businesses to the area. He said he could imagine the space holding about seven to eight opportunities for outparcel tenants, but all of that is conjecture until a tenant shows up.
“Once the tenant wants to market, then and only then do you have the opportunity to place them, whether it be in one of those outward facing shops or one of the outparcel building opportunities,” Mulherin said.
Once all of the other work is completed, Mulherin said, the group will be redoing the parking lot with asphalt work.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 36 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
