Greenbriar Mall in southwest Atlanta has not only avoided foreclosure, new foreign investors plan to invest significant capital in the aging shopping center while the movie theater reopens this month.
The plethora of good news comes after months of setbacks, including a smash-and-grab robbery in December, closure of the AMC-owned Magic Johnson 12-plex in October and foreclosure notices filed over the last several months.
Mall co-owner Charlie Hendon with Hendon Properties said in January he was working on a way to avoid foreclosure. On Sunday, he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he had succeeded.
“We’re pleased by this outcome and we are excited that Greenbriar Mall will be able to continue to serve its community,” he said. “We are especially delighted that we have found and continue to find new, exciting tenants. We are certain that the community will be very pleased that a new theater operator will reopen the theater.”
Revolution Cinemas will reopen the former AMC Theater, and Super Beauty Depot will open in the former Circuit City building. Both tenants are scheduled to open this month, Hendon said.
A foreign investor retired the bank loan on the mall and removed any potential for foreclosure, Hendon added. The investors, who wish to remain private, also will supply funds for significant capital improvements to the mall over the next few months, he said.
Hendon remains a mall co-owner and O’Leary Partners Inc., the operators of Underground Atlanta, manage the mall. A Canadian partner is no longer involved in the mall, Hendon said.
Margaret Caldwell and Kris Cooper with real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle brokered the deal.
“The sale of this property is a key indicator of foreign investor interest in purchasing retail assets in the United States,” Caldwell said, “and a trend that we believe will only get bigger in the months to come.”
The 807,697-square-foot mall sits on 94.5 acres at the intersection of Interstate I-285 and Langford Parkway. The mall is 94.3 percent leased, according to Jones Lang LaSalle.
Greenbriar is a mall steeped in Atlanta’s history. Designed by famed architect John Portman, Greenbriar was one of the region’s first enclosed malls and the birthplace of the modern food court concept, with Chick-fil-A opening its first store there in 1967.
Music producer Jermaine Dupri discovered the two members of the platinum-selling group Kris Kross at Greenbriar Mall. And rap artists ranging from Ludacris to T.I have mentioned Greenbriar in song.
More recently, Atlanta actor and producer Tyler Perry opened his studios across the street.
The mall also has seen its share of tough times. In 1985, JCPenney, one of the mall’s two original anchors left, bringing protests from residents and black leaders, including then-Mayor Andrew Young.
A Cub Foods opened in the 1990s, but a decade later, the grocer closed. And the closure of the much-ballyhooed Magic Johnson theater last October was another blow. The 12-screen complex had opened in 1996 with an $8 million investment from the former NBA star. The theater had changed hands, and last year, Kansas City, Mo.,-based AMC Entertainment closed the Greenbriar cinema saying it was underperforming.
Recent visits to the mall find an aging facility but one that is mostly occupied. Macy’s is a major anchor. The mall also offers services that used to be the foundation of American malls: a barbershop, a beauty shop, a nail salon, a post office and two dialysis centers.
