The old saying is “if you build it, they will come” – with the University of Connecticut facing a housing crisis, the prospect of new places to live in the area is a welcome idea.
A Maryland investment company has purchased the local East Brook Mall with plans to renovate and build a 150-flat apartment complex.
Located right off the junction of US Route 6 and Storrs Road, also known as Connecticut Route 195, the East Brook Mall sits on the Mansfield-Willimantic town line. The single-level shopping center is only about 300,000 square-feet, earning it the title of second-smallest mall in New England.
America’s Realty LLC closed on purchasing the property on Oct. 10 for $12 million, according to a press release.
“That’s why this asset fits, because it’s been neglected,” said Carl Verstandig, president of America’s Realty LLC, to the Hartford Business Journal. “I think for the neglect, for it to be 80% occupied is miraculous.”
When the mall was last sold in 2008, it was worth $30.1 million.
According to Connecticut retail blog the Caldor Rainbow, the East Brook Mall opened in 1975 anchored by Caldor and Sage-Allen, both department stores, and an A&P supermarket. Some smaller businesses like JC Penney, CVS, Radioshack and Hallmark occupied the indoor spaces in the mall’s heyday.
Today, stores including Kohl’s, Old Navy, TJ Maxx and Michaels serve as mainstays alongside the Mansfield Movieplex, an eight-auditorium movie theatre. Papa Gino’s, a chain pizza restaurant, holds the distinction of being present since opening day; an Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Berkshire Bank branch stand as separate buildings on the property.
In recent years, some tenants have come and gone, but the center has enjoyed the business proximity to the main UConn campus in Storrs and Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic.
Part of the redevelopment plan includes a new roof, solar panel installation and infrastructure improvements and the new owners hope to lease all of the empty storefronts within a year.
“This center is unique because it has UConn with 35,000 students down the road, and there’s not a ton of competition. You have to go out of the area for shopping,” Verstandig said in an interview with the Hartford Courant.
The new apartment complex, planned for the rear of the property, will require more extensive consideration and permitting before breaking ground.
The developers hope to convert some of the mall’s indoor area into outdoor green space – a model called mixed-use development. Coupled with other new apartment developments and active properties near the UConn campus, private entities are looking to fill the housing need.
The cost to redevelop East Brook is projected to be about $40 million, and they hope to open the apartments within three years.
“There is a lot of potential in the [East Brook Mall] property, a lot of good anchor tenants in a convenient location,” added Kathleen Paterson, the executive director of the Mansfield Downtown Partnership.
The news comes as trends in shopping mall developments and consumer preferences shift.
There is heavy development in the Storrs/Mansfield area, including new shopping plazas. The nearby Enfield Square mall is slated for a similar mixed-use project amid the changes in management of malls in Connecticut.
Forbes reports that 53% of mall redevelopment projects it tracked across the country include housing.
America’s Realty, the new investors, own and manage properties in 43 states. Their business primarily manages shopping malls and plazas that have been neglected.
The East Brook Mall, at 95 Storrs Road in Willimantic, is about a 15-minute drive from UConn and is accessible on WRTD bus route 674.
