Southern Park Mall to Redevelop Sears Space

BOARDMAN, Ohio – A day after Sears Holdings confirmed it would be closing the Sears store at the Southern Park Mall, the mall’s parent company announced today that it will transform the store space with a multimillion-dollar project.

Washington Prime Group, Columbus, said it is in discussions with new tenants for the anchor space occupied by Sears. The project will see the addition of “diversified tenants” at Southern Park Mall, which it says is a “tier one asset.”

Washington Prime Group negotiated an early termination of Sears’ lease to take control of the space and begin redevelopment efforts.

“The redevelopment opportunity at Southern Park Mall further illustrates our mandate to diversify tenancy and establish this asset as the dominant town center within the Youngstown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA),” said the group’s CEO and director, Lou Conforti, in a prepared statement. “The [approximately] 550,000 residents which comprise this MSA deserve differentiated retail, dining, entertainment and services, and it is our objective to continue to provide them with the established tenancy they expect as well as new and exciting offerings – the unexpected.”

Brian Gabbert, general manager of Southern Park Mall, said he is excited to welcome new tenants to the mall.

“Our redevelopment efforts demonstrate our commitment to the Boardman community and Greater Youngstown area,” Gabbert said. “We remain focused on providing our guests with an increasingly enjoyable environment to shop, dine and spend time together.”

Sears begins liquidation April 27 and the store is slated to close by mid-July.

As of Dec. 31, Washington Prime Group operated 109 properties throughout the United States.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.