Burnsville Center's new owners are no strangers to the troubled shopping center and the Twin Cities.
A group of business owners, including developers behind the $30 million project to build an Asian grocery store and food hall inside the empty Gordmans at the mall, have purchased a major chunk of the mall. The Wyn Group, the new brokerage and investment firm real estate principal Marshall Nguyen formed, is also a co-owner as well as Afro Deli & Grill owner Abdirahman Kahin.
The deal closed last week, but the owners, including Chicago-area based the Windfall Group, declined to share the sale price. The sale signals a new era for the south metro shopping mall, which has struggled to retain tenants and foot traffic throughout its recent history. It also is a rare example of local investors being part of owning and managing a metro-area mall as opposed to large out-of-state real estate investment trusts.
"We are local, and we are longtime holders," Nguyen said. "It is important for us to ensure the vitality of the interior mall."
Last year, Eddie Ni, chairman of the Windfall Group, led the group that bought the former Gordmans as well as the space Dick's Sporting Goods, Noodles & Co. and Kirkland's occupy for about $10.6 million. The Pacifica of Burnsville project, which will also include a couple of standalone restaurants, should open early next year. Nguyen, who also helped broker the Pacifica deal, said it was always the group's vision to acquire the entirety of the mall.
"That was our strategic play. ... We want to ensure whatever uses coming into the mall also compliment our project," Nguyen said.
The team has been busy. In May, the group, including Ni and Nguyen, purchased the empty St. Paul Sears store near the State Capitol for $7 million and soon after sold the store to community organization Asian Media Access. Nguyen also brokered the deal that turned the former Gander Outdoors store in Eden Prairie into the Asia Mall retail destination.
The most recent sale for the remainder of Burnsville Center doesn't include the anchors of Sears, JCPenney and Macy's, but it does encompass the main thoroughfares and stores inside the mall as well as much of the surrounding parking lots totaling about 28 acres.
The group of owners purchased the mall from New York-based Kohan Retail Investment Group, which city leaders recently criticized for failing to maintain the languishing mall.
The Burnsville Center group plans to start renovations of the bathrooms at the mall and is currently fielding bids to replace some of the flooring on the second level, Nguyen said. They are also turning to automation to help keep the mall clean, including purchasing robots that can help mop the mall's tiles.
"That's our priority, to change the perception," Nguyen said.
What attracted the owners to the mall in the first place was the location so close to Interstate 35W and the population of potential shoppers in the south metro. While Nguyen didn't provide details for further redevelopment at the mall, he said the mall's new owners are open to a variety of uses such as residential development.
"The world of shopping malls is currently changing, and we have to adapt," Nguyen said.
The owners want to attract diverse tenants and local businesses to the mall as well as national chains, Nguyen said.
Burnsville Center has long had an issue with empty storefronts, which the pandemic only worsened when many malls and stores had to close temporarily as shoppers stayed home. In spring 2020, Burnsville Center's income dropped by about a third because of store closures and rent reductions. The mall's former owner, Tennessee real estate investment trust CBL Properties, missed its mortgage payments and later that year put the mall up for auction as part of foreclosure proceedings.
The Kohan group purchased the mall in late 2020 at auction for about $17 million with its leader, Mike Kohan, vowing to "do the right thing for the community." But outside of the Pacifica project, Burnsville Center failed to make any significant progress.
As of right now, Nguyen estimated the mall was about 50% empty. However, he said the vacancy is an opportunity.
"There's a lot of vacancies, which is great because it is going to help us curate our idea and bring in a lot of traffic," Nguyen said.
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Locals behind Afro Deli, Asia Mall buy troubled Burnsville Center - Star Tribune
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