COLUMBUS, MS – Courtesy of Cadence Harvey and the Dispatch
Georgia-based Hull Property Group acquired Columbus’ Leigh Mall in 2019 and renamed it as Columbus Place. They have been pouring a great deal of their money into its revitalization, most notably, by giving the parking lot a desperately-needed makeover. John Mulherin, VP of government relations for Hull, is realistic about the mall’s prospects: “The mall property did not devolve down and fail overnight,” he said. “It happened over a period of time. It’s going to take a period of time for it to come back. What we’ve done … (and) the work we’re continuing to do, we continue to invest into the properties to create the best offering (and) the best opportunity for somebody.”
Hull’s holdings there include not only the mall itself, but also several outparcels in the surrounding area that used to house other businesses that had long ago moved on in search of better pastures. Most of those structures have now been demolished, and Hull hopes to develop the land for future use to suit new tenants. The possibilities remain wide open: “It can be developed as anything,” said Mulherin. “We’ve had a lot of success with medical, entertainment use (and) municipal use (in other communities). I don’t know if there’s any of those needs in this community.”
He went on to speak on the expansion work on Old Aberdeen Road which they also now own: “You never really finish. . . You’re always continuing to work on something, and we’ve got a lot of work still to do there to continue to make it an attractive place for folks to land.”
Hull has also been working to bring in new national businesses, as well as clinics, and offices, though interest in the Columbus area as a whole has been spotty at best: “Certainly we’re advertising,” Mulherin said. “We’re talking to people. We’re trying to see who’s interested, this and the other. But at the end of the day, it’s all market driven and (about) who wants to be in Columbus. At this point, we’ve not had any success with that. . . We can control the things that we can control. . . And what we can’t control is what tenant is interested in the market. That’s not just Columbus. That’s everywhere, but … when the door knocks, we’re pretty good at opening the door, and we do think we have a superior property that would be very attractive to new tenants. There is nothing wrong with Columbus, Mississippi,” he added. “It’s a great market. You’ve got great retail around. You serve as a regional draw, and we’ve got really good real estate.”
Mulherin also reinforced that they’re in this for the long haul.
Please click here for the original article: https://cdispatch.com/news/ask-the-dispatch-whats-the-status-of-columbus-place/
