Despite new ownership, a new name and an updated facade, the former Leigh Mall hasn’t yet shaken its old problem of losing tenants.
Cato and Bealls are the latest casualties at what is now Columbus Place, with their pending closures winnowing the old mall’s tenant roster to 12 – less than a third of the retail spots it has available.
Hull Property Group, which has owned the mall for five years, is not discouraged. In fact, John Mulherin, its vice president for government relations, said the company is “doubling down” on its investment in Columbus.
“We are exactly where we thought we’d be at this time in the redevelopment process,” Mulherin told The Dispatch on Wednesday.
Hull Group, based in Augusta, Georgia, bought the mall property through auction for $3.5 million and completed work this summer to convert most of it to a retail strip mall facing Highway 45.
But when Hull bought the mall, Cato and Bealls wanted their front-facing entrances to remain inside, Mulherin said. At the time, both stores had remaining terms on their contracts, and Hull had no termination or relocation rights.
Their departures, however, open up 123,000 square feet for Hull to renovate for commercial, medical or municipal office space that would face Highway 82, Mulherin said. It could also accommodate “entertainment space.”
“We see that as a tremendous opportunity for us … to do what we originally wanted to do,” Mulherin said. “… It will be a mixed-use center.”
That model is trending and Hull Group has seen it work other places, Mulherin said, especially at properties where the space supply exceeds the demand for straight retail.
“How are you going to fill up 500,000 square feet of retail when you’ve got a retail corridor that has pretty much all the national retail that you could ever want?” Mulherin said, referring to Highway 45.
Planned renovations to the building’s south side will mimic the work done on the retail side.
“(We will) give it some definition. Give it some verticality,” he said. “… Prominence. Institutional presence, if you will.”
Mulherin told The Dispatch in June the inside-out flip on the retail side cost Hull Group about $24 million, for which Columbus and Lowndes County have agreed to contribute $3 million in tax rebates over 15 years. He would not give a more specific estimate for the rear renovation plans other than “multi-million dollar.”
Meanwhile, Hull Group continues developing space for outparcels in front of the old mall, as well as a new entrance to Columbus Place beside Trustmark Bank.
The company has demolished the old Sears Auto Center, as well as an old gas station that once stood beside Old Aberdeen Road. The city earlier this year ceded a portion of the road to Hull Group. Taken together, those measures create space for six new outparcels, Mulherin said.
Hull Group also is under contract to purchase four additional outparcels, Mulherin said – one in front of Ross Dress for Less, and three near the LaQuinta Inn, including the old Waffle House.
“We’ve decided to make a multi-million dollar investment in Columbus,” Mulherin said. “We’re so high on it, we’re spending more money.”
‘Good dirt’
Hull Group owns 35 properties that once were failed malls across 17 states, Mulherin said. Bringing them back to life can be a painstaking process that can often take 10 to 12 years.
“We cautioned the community, Day 1, Leigh Mall didn’t fail overnight and it would not magically be brought back to prominence overnight,” he said.
So far, Mulherin said Hull Group has worked to stabilize and transform Columbus Place. That’s “the bait” for repositioning the property’s place as a business hub.
“All we can do is create the right offering,” he said. “… We do not control who shows up and when they show up. … In the condition Leigh Mall was in at the time we bought it, there was not a single tenant that would have gone in that mall that we would have wanted or the community would have wanted. You want to get the right tenant mix to where you’re not forced to get the wrong (one) – indoor flea market type.”
Mulherin said Hull Group has relationships with “every national retailer there is” and is “casting a wide net” to recruit tenants. That net includes grocery stores, general retailers, quick-serve restaurants and junior anchor boxes – stores looking for 20,000 or 30,000 square feet, rather than the 60,000 common in mall anchor stores of the past.
“You’re not going to get a Costco, but you could get a smaller warehouse club type place,” he added.
Getting the right tenants takes time, but getting a wrong one quickly could run off the others, he said.
“It’s sort of like playing that old game of ‘Whack- a-Mole,’” he said. “You don’t know where it’s coming until they stick their head up and make their presence known. … End of the day … (the tenant) has to say, ‘I want Columbus, Mississippi.”
But Hull believes it has “good dirt” at Columbus Place that will appeal to those “right” tenants.
It sits as the gateway to a tightly concentrated retail corridor on Highway 45.
“Everybody has to ride past us to get to the rest of the retail,” he said. “… We think we’re attractive, and we’re going to have our opportunities.”
Public reassurance
Mulherin’s methodical optimism aside, both he and Columbus Mayor Keith Gaskin acknowledged the natives are getting restless.
With each store closure announcement, more citizens take to social media to malign the project.
Gaskin said he understands their frustration, though he believes in Hull Group’s process.
“I know people are wanting to see new retail come in faster and are concerned about (businesses) leaving,” he said. “But (Hull Group has) done this work in other places and they have a successful track record.”
Gaskin has invited Hull Group representatives to spend time in Columbus after the first of the year and talk more about their plans publicly.
“Having them here to where people can actually see what they are doing and hear them firsthand talk about their plans will give people some reassurance,” Gaskin said.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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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 31 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
