ATLANTA-General Growth Properties is giving its 32-year-old Cumberland Mall in Cobb County a $65-million facelift as JC Penney makes plans to vacate its estimated 80,000-sf store June 4, according to the Chicago-based shopping center developer. Cumberland was metro's first enclosed mall when it opened in 1973.
The renovations will grow the mall by 77,000 sf to 1.27 million sf of rentable space and keep it among the top 10 largest shopping centers in Greater Atlanta, according to Dorey's Retail Space Guide. The mall was last renovated in 1999. The new work is scheduled for completion in 2006.
General Growth also plans multimillion-dollar renovations at its two other malls--the 1.5-million-sf North Point Mall in north Fulton County and the 1.02-million-sf Southlake Mall in Clayton County. Starting renovating dates haven't been set, area retail brokers following the market tell GlobeSt.com.
JC Penney's decision to leave Cumberland follows Macy's closing in 2003 at its 100,000-sf location. General Growth bought Macy's in 2003 from Federated Department Stores Inc. At that time, General Growth had initially planned a multimillion-dollar renovation of the department store but changed plans later and will be demolishing the building, the company previously announced.
Cumberland Mall's planned expansion follows a similar decision by Simon Property Group of Indianapolis to grow its 1.57-million-sf Lenox Square mall in Fulton County by 90,000 sf to 1.66 million sf, as Globe St.com previously reported. The largest mall in Georgia is the 1.9-million-sf Mall of Georgia in Buford, Gwinnett County, owned by Simon Property Group.
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