Peachtree Mall’s owner acquires former Parisian space from Dillard’s, mum about plans for property

It has sat dark and empty for nearly a decade, its potential wasted one holiday shopping season after another.

But the former Parisian department store space at Peachtree Mall — all 86,274 square feet of it — appears headed for new life, with the shopping center’s parent company acquiring the property, according to city real-estate records.

The change in ownership, a deal that closed two days before Thanksgiving, is a major step toward plugging an anchor-sized hole at the 3131 Manchester Expressway mall.

Peachtree’s owner, however, Chicago-based General Growth Properties, for now is being quiet about what it plans to do with the space inhabited by Parisian until its closing in February 2006. It had been owned by Dillard’s, another mall anchor, since early 2007.

“I am going to pass on comment. When there is news to share, someone will certainly reach out you,” Lesley Cheers, General Growth’s senior director of corporate public relations, said via email when asked what might go in the newly acquired space and when redevelopment could occur.

Julie Johnson Bull, director of investor relations at Little Rock, Ark.-based Dillard’s, also declined to speak about the retailer’s divestiture of the property, saying the company doesn’t comment about real-estate negotiations or sales.

Documents submitted Tuesday to the Muscogee County Superior Court Clerk’s office show various legal filings — including one for a warranty deed — between Higbee Gak LP (1600 Cantrell Road, Little Rock, Ark.) and Peachtree Anchor Acquisition LLC (110 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, Ill.) Those also are the headquarters addresses for Dillard’s and General Growth Properties. The filings also instruct that any tax notices pertaining to the property be sent to General Growth in Chicago.

While the closing date was Nov. 24, the documents mention a Nov. 19 purchase and sale agreement between Higbee Gak and Peachtree Anchor Acquisition. They don’t list a specific monetary amount for the property. Also listed are Gayfer’s Montgomery Fair Co., Belk and Parisian, all entities that at one point have owned the former Parisian property. Gayfer’s Montgomery Fair is a precursor legal entity to Dillard’s and its purchase of the Gayfer’s department store chain nearly two decades ago.

One filing, labeled “deed to secure debt, assignment of leases and rents and security agreement,” shows Peachtree Mall LLC, a General Growth Properties’ limited liability company, entering a loan agreement with New York-based Silverpeak Real Estate Finance LLC in the amount of $88 million. It says final payment is due on or before Dec. 6, 2025, which would indicate General Growth — which paid $87.6 million for the mall in 2003 — is either refinancing its debt on the shopping center or borrowing against its value.

The bottom line moving forward: General Growth Properties gains control of prime property — front and center — at the mall, which is located on a heavily trafficked corridor through the city. The shopping center completed a major refreshing of its tenant space this year, adding a couple of popular clothing retailers, H&M and Forever 21.

Mall management in the past has discussed the possibility of not returning the 86,274 square feet of former Parisian space to a single large anchor format. Instead, it could be divided up among several restaurants and retail stores. Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro are among the names that have been tossed out previously for the center, which is short on full-service eateries.

Ruby Tuesday is the only true restaurant inside the mall, although a Sapo’s Mexican Cocina and Bar recently opened in the former Johnny Carino’s space, a stand-alone outparcel on the Macy’s side of the center. The vacant department store space also is a few steps from the mall’s food court.

Dillard’s, one of three remaining anchors at Peachtree Mall — the others being JCPenney and Macy’s — owns its department store property in Columbus. That space formerly was the home for Gayfers, an Alabama-based retail chain that Dillard’s gobbled up in 1998.

It was in early 2007 that Dillard’s also purchased the vacant Parisian space from Charlotte, N.C.-based retailer Belk Inc., paying nearly $4.4 million, but sitting on it since then. Belk had bought the 40-store Parisian chain, then decided to close a dozen stores, including the Peachtree Mall location that had been open since 1985.

Eventually, Peachtree Mall management placed an extra large U.S. flag where the interior entrance of the former Parisian was located. It was quickly walled off after its closure, with soft drink and snack food machines lining the wall. Over the recent Black Friday shopping weekend, interior lights of the former Parisian property were visible from two outside entrances, with a few old clothing racks and shelves still inside, a “Parisian Signature” sign on a wall.

Financially, Dillard’s has been experiencing declining profits this year, with its net income slightly lower in the first two quarters of 2015. Upon release of its third-quarter results on Nov. 16, Dillard’s Chief Executive Officer William T. Dillard II said he was “disappointed” that the chain’s drop in net income accelerated, falling from $55.2 million a year ago to $45.7 million in the latest quarter.

Peachtree Mall marked its 40th anniversary this year, having opened for business in 1975. The 815,000-square-foot center has seen various remodeling and expansion projects through the years, with retailers coming and going. For instance, Montgomery Ward once was in the space now occupied by Macy’s (originally Rich’s when it first arrived in Columbus).

General Growth has owned Peachtree Mall since April 30, 2003, having bought it from the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, paying $87.6 million. The shopping center has about 100 tenants, but has not expanded in a major way for years due to space limitations. For instance, vertical construction has not been considered due to the property’s close proximity to Columbus Airport.

The shopping center, operated legally under Peachtree Mall LLC, pays just under $1.3 million a year in property taxes for several parcels of land at 3131 Manchester Expressway, according to city tax records. Dillard’s forks over nearly $148,000 annually for its 209,142-square-foot department store space. That doesn’t include the $59,418 yearly tax bill for the empty Parisian space.

The city’s only other indoor shopping venue was Columbus Square Mall on Macon Road. It opened in 1965 and operated until the city purchased the property in 2000, eventually closing the building and tearing it down. JCPenney moved to Peachtree Mall amid that shopping center’s deterioration, while retailer Sears relocated to Columbus Park Crossing on the city’s north side. A city library and the Muscogee County School District have been built on the land where the late Columbus Square Mall once beckoned shoppers to do their holiday shopping.

This story was originally published December 3, 2015 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Peachtree Mall’s owner acquires former Parisian space from Dillard’s, mum about plans for property."