Citadel Mall
Total retail floor area 1,138,527 square feet (105,773 m2)[1] | | |
No. of floors | 1 (2 in Belk, Dillard's, and MUSC) | |
---|---|---|
Parking | 5427 | |
Website | citadelmall |
Citadel Mall is a regional 1,138,527 square feet (105,773 m2) shopping mall located in Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It opened on July 29, 1981 and is located at the intersection of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard (SC Hwy. 7) and I-526. The mall features more than 100 stores. On September 1, 2013 the mall went into foreclosure after then owner CBL & Associates Properties defaulted on mortgage payments, and it was purchased at auction by the lender in January 2014. After the auction, the mall was placed under the ownership of a holding company formed by the lender, 2070 Sam Rittenberg Boulevard Holdings LLC and as of January 2017 was under contract to be sold to an undisclosed buyer.[2] The anchor stores are Target, Belk, Dillard's, Mixed Bag Productions, and Medical University of South Carolina.
History
The mall opened in 1981 as a project of National Mall developer Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs of Cleveland, Ohio. Citadel Mall is located at the intersection of Sam Rittenberg Boulevard (S.C. Highway 7) and Savannah Highway (
At the time of its opening, Citadel Mall was anchored by
Jacobs, Visconsi & Jacobs later became The Richard E. Jacobs Group in the 1990s. The first major change at the mall occurred in 1992 when it was announced that
The Richard E. Jacobs Group added a Food Court and completely remodeled the mall's interior in the early 2000s. Shortly thereafter, Jacobs divested the majority of its mall portfolio and sold Citadel Mall to
On April 8, 2008, AMC Theatres announced that it was closing its Citadel Mall Cinema 6 after the final showing on Saturday, June 28, 2008. AMC also announced plans to close its Northwoods Mall Cinema 8 on the same date. The last film shown was “WALL-E”.
The cinema was originally built as a part of the
The mall was prominently featured in an episode of The Food Network's popular program "Food Court Wars" hosted by famed chef Tyler Florence that was taped at the mall in June 2013. The show pitted two couples against one another for the chance to win a lease of a vacant food court space at the mall for a year.[3]
On September 10, 2013
Spinoso Real Estate Group aggressively marketed the mall and successfully attracted new tenants during the period in which the mall was under bank ownership. Citadel Mall is seen as a highly attractive property due to its central location and visibility at the convergence of two major highways and an interstate and the fact that it has 6 successful anchor tenants and a new state of the art IMAX cinema complex.
It was announced on February 24, 2017 that the mall was purchased for $17 million by TMP SRE 1, LLC, a limited-liability company of local business persons led by managing partner Richard C. Davis who is noted for developing and starring in the first season of A&E's "Flip This House" reality television series.[5] The new owners have indicated that they intend to upgrade the mall's tenant mix to better suit the area while also adding entertainment and mixed-use elements including the construction of a multi-story travel sports facility attached to the mall.[6] Former management company Spinoso Real Estate Group has been replaced by the new ownership and the property is now managed by JLL - Jones Lang LaSalle.
On March 17, 2017, JCPenney announced that its store would be closing as part of a plan to close 138 stores nationwide. The store closed on July 31, 2017.
On May 3, 2018, Sears announced that it would also be closing in August 2018 as part of a plan to close 42 stores nationwide.[9] Within days of the news of the closure, it was subsequently announced that the mall's owners had acquired the Sears property for $7.55 million. They stated that the acquisition of the Sears parcel was the final piece of a three-step process to transform the mall "into something more grand and consistent with the West Ashley revitalization plan."[10] As a part of the planned upgrades and renovations Citadel Mall was also to be renamed EPIC Center.[11]
Since 2019, HBO leases the 132,000-square-foot Sears store for principal photography for its television series The Righteous Gemstones.[12] [13]
On January 6, 2023 it was reported that the mall was acquired by real estate investors Singerman Real Estate of Chicago, Illinois for an undisclosed sum. Future plans have not as yet been announced and it is unknown if the new owners intend to proceed with the planned renaming and redevelopment proposed by its former owners. [14]
References
- ^ a b "Citadel Mall". CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. Archived from the original on 2011-07-08. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
- ^ Wise, Warren (2017-01-17). "Citadel Mall, Charleston's largest shopping center, under contract to be sold". The Post & Courier.
- ^ "Food Network filming 'Food Court Wars' today at Citadel Mall". The Post & Courier. 2013-06-04.
- ^ Wise, Warren (2013-09-10). "Citadel Mall Faces Foreclosure". The Post & Courier.
- ^ Wise, Warren (2017-02-24). "Citadel Mall buyers include 'Flip This House' creator". The Post & Courier.
- ^ Simmons, Alexis (2017-08-07). "New Citadel Mall owners plan sports complex addition". WCSC.
- ^ "Citadel Mall JCPenney store to close by June". Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ Wise, Warren (2017-10-16). "MUSC to turn former J.C. Penney store at Charleston mall into outpatient center". The Post & Courier.
- ^ "Sears store and auto center to close at Citadel Mall". Retrieved 4 August 2018.
- ^ Wise, Warren (2018-05-07). "Citadel Mall owners buy Sears site for $7.55 million ahead of store closing". The Post & Courier.
- ^ Adams, Helen (2018-10-30). "Citadel Mall to become Epic Center, home of new MUSC Health West Campus". MUSC Catalyst.
- ^ Oyer, Kalyn (July 5, 2018). "HBO comedy show with Danny McBride and John Goodman filming in Charleston". The Post and Courier. Retrieved July 22, 2018.
- ^ "New HBO comedy series filming at South Carolina mall". WLTX. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
- ^ Wise, Warren (2023-01-06). "Citadel Mall is under new ownership 6 years after selling for nearly $30 million". The Post & Courier.