Lakeview Square Mall sells for $9 million in Battle Creek

The nearly 560,000-square-foot Lakeview Square Mall in Battle Creek has been purchased by GK Development Inc. The Barrington, Ill.-based real estate acquisition and development company specializes in retail and commercial properties. It obtained the property for $9 million. The property previously had been in foreclosure. 

 

The mall's anchors are JCPenney, Macy’s, Sears and GKC Theaters. Its tenants are: Aeropostale, Auntie Anne’s, Barnes & Noble, Bath & Body Works, the Buckle, Dunham’s Sports, Finish Line, Sterling Jewelers, Maurices, Payless ShoeSource, Pearle Vision, rue 21, Victoria’s Secret and Zale’s.

 

The company says one of the things it liked about the deal was Lakeview Square Mall's location at the intersection of a primary interstate and state highway, which offers convenient access for 135,000 consumers. Average daily traffic counts are 43,000 vehicles on I-94 and 27,000 vehicles on M-66. Nearby, the retail corridor has roughly 3 million square feet of retail space.

 

New general manager Mark Dycus will lead the  Lakeview Square property team. He has more than 28 years experience in shopping center management, leasing and property operations. He assumed his new position April 8. 

 

Dycus previously was a property manager with Ann Arbor-based McKinley Inc., a national real estate company. His past experience includes management positions at two Michigan malls--Bay City Mall, Bay City, and Meadow Brook Village Mall, Rochester. He also managed several Florida malls including Panama City Mall, Panama City, and Cordova Mall, Pensacola. 

 

"This was an outstanding opportunity to purchase a well located regional shopping mall at the ‘right’ price, with strong anchors and national retailers already in place," says Garo Kholamian, president of GK Development. "Lakeview Square Mall fits our core strategy of purchasing value-added properties that require re-tenanting or other improvements at a cost far below replacement cost."

 

The seller was 5775 Beckley Road Holdings, LLC, a Maryland-based company. 

 

"Retailers expansion plans favor existing properties that can provide quality space at competitive rents. Lakeview Square Mall fits that criterion," says Kholamian. "Our objective is to aggressively seek new retailers to complement the current roster of name brand retailers and provide an enhanced shopping experience for our guests."