Sitt, chairman/CEO of New York-based Thor Equities and Dan O'Leary, a principal at O'Leary Partners Inc., couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. But area brokers tell GlobeSt.com both parties have confirmed a deal is near. The contract price, however, hasn't been disclosed.

Brokers tell GlobeSt.com the estimated price will be at least $60 per sf or about $42 million, based on the $21 million price ($30 per sf), the O'Leary group paid for the property in 1997. O'Leary invested several million dollars in upgrades since then, increasing sales to $300 per sf from $185 per sf, area brokers tell GlobeSt.com.

Thor Equities, a national developer of urban retail, residential and commercial projects, has built a three-million-sf portfolio in the past 18 months. "The acquisition of South DeKalb Mall would fall in line with Thor's strategy of investing-developing in specific target markets," an Atlanta retail broker tells GlobeSt.com on condition of anonymity.

According to the mall's Web site, the center caters to a close-knit community of African-American customers with more than 600,000 potential customers in the primary and secondary market areas.

O'Leary Partners say on their website the mall's trade area has the second-most affluent African-American base in the United States with an average household income of more than $55,000 for more than 257,000 residents within a five-mile radius. The 10 largest churches have "more than 125,000 members who support South DeKalb Mall in many meaningful ways," according to the O'Leary group.