Park Lane Mall Finally Offloaded

The Macerich Company just announced they offloaded, ahem, sold Park Lane Mall in Reno for an undisclosed amount (translation: we lost the shirts off our backs!). Although a surprise to some, they've been wanting to offload this property for while. In the past, if you went to Macerich's Website to view information about the mall, you'd find nothing. For years they haven't acknowledged the property at all. There is no customer Website for the mall, either. And the most obvious fact, Macerich keeps its tenants in month-the-month specialty leases. That way, they can make changes without any pesky contracts to get in the way of improvements.

The new owner, M&H Realty Partners, previously owned San Jose's Westgate Mall and revitalized the aging center. They recently sold that mall, making a hefty profit, to Federal Realty Investment Trust.

What does the future hold for Park Lane? My Many local retailers in the mall fear losing their leases or exorbitant rent increases. The fact remains, though, losing tenants is the last thing the mall could afford to do. Now with everyone driving miles and miles south to The Summit Sierra or to the major anchors at Meadowood, M&H would probably try to attract big box retailers. Least those not already in Shopper's Square across the street. I suspect the mall will remain enclosed, since that is logical in cold-winter areas. They could also capitalize on the cinema and add some sit-down restaurants. There are lots of possibilities, but we'll just have to wait.

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