GPM Acquires San Antonio's Central Park Mall

Insiders aren't putting a price to package. Tenants were asked to vacate last year, leaving an empty mall save for Sears, which owns its site. The mall has a cornerstone positioning in the north central submarket, the city's second-leading retail corridor. The submarket's occupancy is running 92% in comparison to the citywide average of 85.8%, according to Dallas-based Weitzman Group. Marketwide, overall rent brings an average of $12 per sf to as much as $20 per sf for new construction.

Jaffe owned the mall, but GPM held control of a vacant Dillard's situated on mall property. A mutually acceptable solution between the property owners needed to be worked out to forge ahead on the mall's redevelopment. And the land, as the locals know, is just way too valuable to sit idle any longer. The mall fronts Loop 410 between Blanco Road and San Pedro Avenue. Factor in GPM's dual office towers, totaling about 200,000 sf, in the area...and the proud owner now controls 50 acres and 1.2 million sf of retail capability.

Victor L. Gerleman, GPM's senior vice president of investments, says the next step is to seek proposals from developers "for the highest and best use for a master-planned, mixed-use development." He says there are no plans on the drawing boards other than a well-rooted idea that a redevelopment must be undertaken. "GPM is a conservative company who moves slowly on things," says Gerleman. "We will move slowly to make sure we do the job correctly."

The mall was built in 1968 as an overflow location for tenants who couldn't get on board at the neighboring North Star Mall, Cale Hahn, retail adviser for Dominion Advisors in San Antonio, tells GlobeSt.com. He says Sears, is committed to staying.

As Jaffe bids farewell to the family holding, he said in a prepared statement: "I cannot think of a better steward for the redevelopment of Central Park Mall than GPM. My father would have applauded this decision...."