Dillard’s Inc. and a Fort Worth-based real estate firm teamed up to buy a mall about two hours east of Dallas in a move that stands out among current trends in the retail real estate landscape.
Trademark Property Co. announced Aug. 25 it partnered with the Arkansas-based department store giant to purchase Longview Mall, a 646,000-square-foot property in Longview, about 40 miles east of Tyler.
A price for the deal was not disclosed. However, the Wall Street Journal reported the two entities paid $34 million for the mall.
The deal comes as other big and well-known department store chains have opted to sell large chunks of their real estate.
In 2024, Macy’s, the famed New York City-based department store, announced it planned to close about 150 underperforming stores through 2026. Similarly, Plano-based JCPenney, recently sold 119 stores to a Boston-based private equity firm for $947 million.
Across the retail landscape, there has been a lack of liquidity and “limited appetite for investing in malls” as opposed to the strong demand for grocery-anchored shopping centers, Trademark CEO Terry Montesi said.
That limited appetite has led to favorable pricing for mall acquisitions for those willing to invest, Montesi added.
For Dillard’s and Trademark, “the pricing was good and the timing was good,” Montesi said.
In spite of changing consumer behavior and financial challenges faced by shopping malls around the country, Montesi said the predictions about the “death of malls” and department stores have not fully come true.
While some malls have become distressed or repurposed, many remain viable, important and successful, especially in markets where they are the only mall for many miles, he said.
Longview Mall sees more than 3.7 million visitors a year and is the only enclosed regional mall within a 45-mile radius, according to the announcement. It opened in 1978 and was developed by Melvin Simon & Associates.The mall itself is more than 90% leased, Montesi said.
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