Eastpoint Mall in eastern Baltimore County will likely get an overhaul and some new retailers under a new owner, a New York-based private equity fund that announced the acquisition yesterday.
The Thor Urban Property Fund, a unit of Thor Equities LLC, said it acquired the 844,463- square-foot regional mall anchored by Sears, Value City, J.C. Penney and Steve & Barry's University Sports- wear.
Officials of Thor, who were not available yesterday, did not release the purchase price.
But the mall, which had been owned by a partnership of Lehman Brothers and mall operator Shopco Advisory Corp. of New York, had an estimated value of $100 million, according to the newsletter Real Estate Alert.
In a release yesterday, officials of the fund described the mall as a well-established center that could become a "regional powerhouse."
The new owners outlined a plan to enhance the lineup of retailers and broaden the development of outparcel sites, which now include buildings that house AMF Bowling Lanes, Bank of America, Checkers, Golden Corral, Mercantile Bank and Staples.
The mall, which has served working-class areas of Dundalk and Essex, was built in 1956 as an open-air shopping center, enclosed in 1972 and renovated in 1991 and last year.
It is the first Baltimore-area mall purchased by Thor Equities, a national developer that specializes in urban retail, office and residential real estate.
"Thor has been on a very aggressive expansion program in terms of buying properties," said Mark Millman, president of Millman Search Group, a retail consultant and executive search firm in Owings Mills. "This is a solid center in a solid region of town. Thor can take its expertise and help refocus and re-merchandise the center to attract better-quality tenants."
Millman said he would expect the new owner to do some remodeling and increase marketing.
"They have the contacts and wherewithal to promote Eastpoint to existing tenants [at their other malls] as a good place to open a location, and that should bring in additional customers," Millman said. "Thor has a very young and aggressive leasing staff with nationwide contacts which will only help promote Eastpoint Mall to potential tenants."
In its release, Thor said it was attracted to the mall property because of its access to Interstate 695 and I-95 and its location in an area undergoing substantial redevelopment, including the $1 billion biotech and housing redevelopment of the city's east side.
lorraine.mirabella@baltsun.com
