A nonprofit recently purchased both Northlake Mall and Emory Healthcare’s offices attached to the property, a large transaction that will result in the healthcare organization leasing nearly the entire mall.
The Centurion Foundation, which manages real estate and development for universities and hospitals, paid $95 million to acquire the Tucker mall and the Emory Healthcare offices, which took the place of a former Sears location. Of that amount, the office building sold for $68 million, nearly 72% of the transaction price.
The Centurion Foundation confirmed the sales price in a Wednesday afternoon news release, adding that the sale includes the shuttered Macy’s store. The adjacent shuttered JCPenney site was not part of this transaction.
“The new lease will enable Emory Healthcare to realize significant cost savings while providing long-term facility control and funding for future expansion on the Northlake Campus,” Ben Mingle, CEO and chairman of the Centurion Foundation, said in the release.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The sale was confirmed in early July by Emory University, the private college that oversees a healthcare and clinical operation. But the transaction price in the July 1 deal first became public Wednesday through Georgia’s property records database.
The property’s seller, Texas-based ATR Corinth Partners, could not be reached for comment.
Located about 15 miles northeast of downtown Atlanta, Northlake Mall’s history is unique. The mall’s 1971 ribbon-cutting was attended by then-Gov. Jimmy Carter, and it spent decades as one of Georgia’s premier shopping centers.
Its slow and steady decline, however, mirrors many other regional malls across the country and metro Atlanta. ATR Corinth Partners paid $24 million a decade ago to buy the mall, except for its big box stores which were owned by those retailers. In 2017, ATR Corinth Partners bought the mall’s Sears location for $8.3 million.
The Sears space closed down the following year and was converted into medical offices. Emory Healthcare has leased 274,000 square feet of space since 2019 for more than 1,000 employees.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The Centurion Foundation said Wednesday the mall will be transformed into a Northlake Campus for Emory Healthcare through a long-term tenant agreement. Emory Healthcare will expand its footprint at the campus over time.
“In connection with the transaction, Centurion Foundation has approval to issue additional financing to support future development of the campus, providing long-term flexibility as Emory Healthcare’s programming needs evolve over time,” the release said.
In June, several mall tenants were told to vacate their stores in 30 days, clearing the way for the pending sale. Sports bar Dugan’s previously said it would remain at the property.
Centurion in late May also primed the pump for public support for its project, discussing a potential $225 million bond deal with the county’s economic development agency Decide DeKalb. The proceeds from the bond issuance, if approved, would finance mall acquisition, demolition, construction and renovation. DeKalb taxpayers would not be on the hook to repay these bonds.
The Northlake Mall sale took place days before Town Center at Cobb, a distressed mall in Kennesaw, was sold in a foreclosure auction to new ownership. Town Center sold for $51.8 million, a 27% discount from the last time the property changed hands.
Other malls in the Atlanta area also being repurposed for new uses beyond shopping and dining. Those include North DeKalb Mall, which was demolished to make way for a mixed-use project called Lulah Hills, and North Point Mall in Alpharetta, which is being evaluated as a site for a potential sports and entertainment center, aiming to snag a professional hockey team.
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