Now that Golden Triangle Mall is officially under new ownership, it will be getting a new look.
GTM Development Ltd., a limited partnership created by Cencor Realty Services and the MGHerring Group, announced Thursday that the acquisition was complete.
The mall was purchased from Arizona-based En Pertignus Holding Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase & Co., which purchased the property for $19.4 million during foreclosure proceedings in July 2010. GTM and Cencor have not divulged what they paid for the property.
Redevelopment of the 765,000-square-foot shopping center will begin early next year and is expected to be mostly complete by the end of 2012.
"We're looking to really revitalize the mall," said Gar Herring, president of the MGHerring Group, adding that the mall will have a different feel once renovations are complete.
The plan is to redesign the entire mall and change the dark and uninviting entrances by adding skylights and more lighting inside, Herring said. The landscaping and signage will be updated and the food court will be redone.
The project will be done in phases with minimal interruption to customers, said Herbert Weitzman, chairman and CEO of the Weitzman Group and Cencor Realty Services. CMA will be the architect for the project.
The storefronts also will get facelifts. Victoria's Secret was first to update its store.
Other major stores in the mall include Sears, JCPenney, Dillard's, Macy's, Ross, Barnes & Noble Booksellers, DSW, Hollister, American Eagle, Aeropostale, Bath and Body Works, and The Limited.
"Dillard's is right now the only one not 100 percent sure whether they are staying or not staying," Weitzman said.
He said Dillard's is planning to wait and see what the redevelopment will look like.
GTM Development has plans to bring in other national tenants as well as keep local shops.
"It's going to take those renovations to pull those tenants there," said Linda Ratliff, the city's economic development director.
To encourage the redevelopment, the Denton City Council approved an incentive agreement with GTM Development in August.
The incentive is based on the average monthly sales tax receipts generated in 2010, which was $95,898.
Once GTM Development makes $9.5 million in eligible renovations, the city will begin giving the company half of any revenue that exceeds that monthly average, Ratliff said.
The company has to invest a minimum of $45 million into the mall by Oct. 1, 2014, or the agreement would end.
The incentive will not exceed $9.5 million or last more than 20 years, depending on whichever comes first, Ratliff said.
The mall is one of few existing properties that the city has offered an incentive to, she said.
"It's one of the larger ones," Ratliff said. "And it's different because the other ones have been for new development."
Others that have received incentive agreements are Denton Crossing, Rayzor Ranch and Unicorn Lake.
Ratliff said the council offered GTM Development an incentive because the mall is a gateway to Denton.
"It's been a great mall for all these years but it's at a point where it needs to be updated," she said.
The location along Loop 288 and Interstate 35 has long been known as a retail hot spot, with several large retailers in the mall and several more along Loop 288.
"I think the big thing is that the location can't be duplicated," Weitzman said, adding that Denton is one of the fastest-growing markets in Texas.
"A lot of that growth is on the south side of town," he said.
RACHEL MEHLHAFF can be reached at 940-566-6889. Her e-mail address is rmehlhaff@dentonrc.com .
 
