Heritage Park's new owner plans to renovate aging mall

By Richard Mize
The Oklahoman

MIDWEST CITY - A local investor has bought struggling Heritage Park Mall from Indiana-based Simon Property Group and plans extensive improvements to the regional retail center.
Heritage Park Mall LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of DDDD Corp., owned by Dan Dill, paid $4.1 million for the 590,167-square-foot mall -- less than half the property's assessed market value.

The Oklahoma County Assessor's Office shows the mall, built in 1978, with a value of $8.8 million.

Gary Gregory and Jason Little of Sperry Van Ness Commercial Real Estate Advisors represented the buyer. Tom Salanty of New York-based Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller. Bank of Union arranged financing and Interstate Title Services Inc. closed the transaction.

The mall at 6801 E Reno Ave. has 374,219 square feet of space owned and operated by national department store anchors, including Dillard's and Sears, and 215,948 square feet leased to smaller retailers, including Bath & Body Works, Finish Line, General Nutrition Centers and Foot Locker.

The transaction was unrelated to the previous sale at auction of the former Wards store adjacent to the mall in October.

The Wards store at 6777 E Reno, vacant since Wards closed all of its stores nationwide and sought bankruptcy protection in 2001, sold for $880,000 to an undisclosed buyer. The present owners are Bahreini Ahmad and Shakiba Nasser, according to county property records.

Little said Sperry Van Ness will handle leasing of space in Heritage Park Mall for Dill and develop two outparcels.

TAParchitecture has been called on to lead renovations of the interior and redesign of the exterior, he said.

"The new owner is planning a significant redevelopment effort to reposition Heritage Park Mall by improving exterior store front access and visibility and by adding new landscaping, lighting, signage and interior decor," Little said.

Sperry Van Ness, with offices in Bank One Center, 100 N Broadway, Suite 2525, is an Irvine, Calif.-based commercial real estate investment firm that expanded to Oklahoma City last spring. Gary Gregory, a multifamily specialist, and Tim Strange, an office and industrial specialist, are the two senior advisers. Little is retail specialist.

Frankly, Heritage Park is like Crossroads. I will believe it when I see it.

I hope these people are ligit.

I agree mranderson. I wish Mr. Dill a lot of luck. The reason Simon (the corp. that originally built the mall) didn't invest any money into the mall was because the demographics around the mall didn't support it. Since someone else owns the Wards space, bringing a successful unified plan together will be more difficult. Crossroads found this out, and launched a campaign to try to buy the old Wards space. They were successful......this should help Crossroads out some.

I wish the best for the new owner of Heritage Park! Although I don't think a turn around will happen, I'd love to see one. Unfortunately, I wouldn't be surprised if Heritage Park goes the same route as Shepherd.

I'm a little more optimistic. While the demographics in the immediate area surrounding the mall leave much to be desired, I believe the demographics in East Midwest City are there. As of now, East Midwest Citians have quite a drive to Penn or Quail. I'm not saying Heritage will compete with those malls, but Heritage is a much closer drive for those in East Midwest City.

I think the Wards space not being owned by the mall owner will be an opstacle. If Mr. Dill could somehow puchase the Wards space, he might have better luck. Filling the third anchor will be crucial to th success of reviving Heritage Park.

Seems like MWC has enough backing to support Heritage Park. Afterall, the largest employer in the metro is in MWC, and many of the military families live in MWC. They need somewhere to shop. As Luke mentioned....Penn Square is a long drive.

With a new anchor and the right renovation plan, the mall can succeed regardless of the demographics.

Heritage Park mall is getting a $15 million dollar exterior makeover that will include better signage and extensive landscaping. The interior just recently received $400,000 worth of remodeling. The renovation will probably include street frontage to most stores.

Heritage Park mall is getting a $15 million dollar exterior makeover that will include better signage and extensive landscaping. The interior just recently received $400,000 worth of remodeling. The renovation will probably include street frontage to most stores.

Thats good maybe there IS hope for the mall... I happen to live right behind it and remember the days when it was alive and well.. It was very popular in its time..

Can't fathom how that mall has a hearbeat, with only one anchor tenant, acres of unoccupied space, and portions owned by others. It's going to take a miracle, IMHO.

-SoonerDave

Can't fathom how that mall has a hearbeat, with only one anchor tenant, acres of unoccupied space, and portions owned by others. It's going to take a miracle, IMHO.

-SoonerDave

There has got to be a reason they are spending so much trying to revitalize it tho.. Maybe something is coming down the line that we don't know about!

I also have a vested interest in Heritage Park, since I live only a mile away. Since I hate driving across town to QS or PS, I generally just don't go "malling".

Things are looking up with MWC, what with the 29th Street development moving along. Perhaps the synergy of new businesses will help HP - we can only hope!

Word to the wise malls:

If you want the general public
to not get the idea that you are on
some sort of "mall life support"...
might not be such a great idea to put
a welfare office right next door to Radio Shack...

Just a thought....