Document text
Rogue Valley Mall changes include new owner The Rogue Valley Mall has sold again, this time to San Diego-based Brixton Capital. Mail Tribune file photo Monday Oct 31, 2016 at 6:07 PM Nov 1, 2016 at 10:53 AM Greg Stiles Mail Tribune @GregMTBusiness The retail industry has changed dramatically in the 30 years since the Rogue Valley Mall rose up between Bear Creek and Riverside Avenue. Over the past three decades, retailing has seen revolutionary changes with the advent of online shopping. "Retail is much faster," General Manager Jeff Barber said. "Things change quickly. In the old days, you'd have Sears around for 100-some years. Now retailers have to adjust rapidly because trends and tastes change so fast that you're constantly having to evolve. The best retailers know how to do that." The region's largest covered shopping complex with more than 100 stores and 12 dining options has morphed in multiple ways over the decades, changing multiple anchors and owners and management groups. San Diego-based Brixton Capital acquired the two-story, 637,000-square-foot mall from General Growth Properties in August. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing on Monday, Brixton paid $61.5 million for the shopping center, with General Growth Properties netting $6.4 million from the deal after closing costs. County records indicate in December 2003, the mall was sold for $57.2 million. Atlanta-based Jones Lang LaSalle, the management firm that oversaw the mall in 2000-2003 when Gregory Greenfield & Associates of Atlanta owned it, has returned in a similar capacity. This is the fifth transition for Barber, who has overseen day-to-day operations for nearly 20 years. “Experience at a property is helpful," Barber said. "It's especially true if you don't have to start all over from ground zero. Right now our focus is getting the new company up and going, getting all the systems in place, helping build the budgets and making plans to implement their vision." Churn is a fact of life for shopping centers as national retailers rise and decline. While many things changed in the dozen or so years General Growth Properties operated the mall, including completing a 7,000-square-foot expansion in 2005, the recession stalled other projects.  Although now-defunct Sports Authority departed earlier this year, the 40,000-square-foot second-floor space remains leased to Macy's, which operates its home store on the ground floor. In the meantime, Barber is setting his sights on future operations. "The great thing about (Jones Lang LaSalle), is they're heavy hitters at the top of their industry," Barber said. "They've changed with the times, the technology and clients out there. It's fun to be part of that." The shopping center remains relevant and well-positioned geographically by the freeway and newer shopping areas. "Rogue Valley Mall is the hub for shopping in Southern Oregon," Barber said. "Our sales, both for the small shops and department stores, are as high as they've ever been. That's where the opportunity lies as our area draws additional retail and services."  — Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31.