Westminster Mall buys its Mervyn's - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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million square feet, has bought the mall’s vacant Mervyn’s building for $3.3 million, accordinb to real estate records. The purchase may be a step towared putting theoutdated mall, which is only under single ownership in anticipation of its redevelopment as an urban-oriented, mixed-use property. Major mall tenants, including Mervyn’s, usuallu own their buildings. Mall owner MD Management Inc. of Kansaz City also no longer is working with locao LLC on redeveloping Westminster Mall and upgrading two of its KansasdCity malls, according to Alberta spokeswoman Megan Campbell.
An MD principakl said as recentlyas January, according to The Denver that he was happg to be working with Alberts on a plan to redevelop Westminster Mall. Progressa on updating MD's hometowmn malls -- Metro North and Metcalg South -- slowed in the last few supposedly because of theeconomic downturn, accordingg to the Kansas City Business MD Westminster Parcels LLC, an MD Management entity, closed on the purchaswe of the Mervyn’s store from Chicago-basedx Klaff Realty LP in mid-May, according to Jefferson Countyy real estate records. “We sold our fee interesg to an entity controlledc by themall landlord,” said Keituh Brown, executive vice president at Klaff.
With the recengt sale, Colorado’s 11 Mervyn’s stores all have been sold or leasedx to retailers such as Burlington Coat Factory andSporte Authority, except for 15,00 square feet of the Pueblo store, Brownh said. Englewood-based Sports Authority leases most of the spacer in theformer Mervyn’s in Pueblo Mall. The Mervyn’s storer at Westminster Mall closed inearly 2006, one of 10 Colorad o stores in the department store chain to shut down at that Surviving anchors at the mall include JC Penney’s and Dillard’s. Completed in 1977, Westminsterd Mall is located at5433 W. 88th just off U.S. Highway 36.
Westminster Mall’s longtime manager, Kenton said he had no information regardingthe Mervyn’x building sale. Tom Morgan, a principa at MD Management, didn’t returj a call for comment. Westminster Mall’s redevelopmen t is in the beginning stages, according to the city of which has pushed for an updatinf of the propertyfor “We look at the property as the existing but also as 100 acres in the middlw of the U.S. 36 corridor, one of the most vibrantt corridors in the metro saidSusan Grafton, economic development manager for the city of “There’s loads of opportunity there to do something more urban becauser of the transportation access.
” The redevelopment is in the “very early conceptual design phase,” according to a summaruy of an April Westminster city council The concept includes retail, officee and residential space, as well as the realignment of nearbyu 88th Avenue and Sheridam Boulevard. Another component of the redevelopment is the nearby Regional Transportation Districtbus park-n-ride, at U.S. Highway 36 and West 88th which may getligh rail. The council adopted a resolution on April 13 forthe city’s developmentf authority to work with MD Management and potentia l developers “to create a visioj and assemble properties to make redevelopmenyt of Westminster Mall a the summary said.
Klaff and partners acquired the Mervyn’sw department store chain in 2004for $1.665 billion. The joint venture that owns the storex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizatiomn inJuly 2008, and converted to Chaptetr 7 liquidation in October.