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Northgate Mall in Colerain Township is being acquired for $110 million by a New York firm that plans to turn the traditional indoor mall into an entertainment destination.
The purchase is the latest salvo in an increasing war among the major retail centers along Interstate 275 on Hamilton County's northern edge.
Feldman Mall Properties, a real estate investment trust that recently went public, said Monday it plans to buy the 1.1 million-square-foot Northgate Mall from David Hocker & Associates for $30 million in cash and the assumption of its $79.6 million mortgage.
The sale should be completed in about 30 days, said Larry Feldman, chairman and CEO of the Great Neck, N.Y., firm that he founded.
Feldman said his firm plans to invest about $20 million in Northgate to add more entertainment features and sit-down restaurants. Such entertainment areas might include an ice rink, bowling alley or arcade and gaming area, for example.
He said the plan could involve some expansion of the mall. And he said construction could begin this year.
"We are planning to add one or more major exciting entertainment-focused users (attractions) that will draw shoppers to the mall," he said Monday.
The Northgate purchase comes on the heels of the February purchase of Tri-County Mall in Springdale, nine miles from Northgate, by Thor Equities for a reported $184 million. Thor plans to invest about $15 million in Tri-County Mall, which has more than 170 stores.
And last year, Arlington, Va.-based Mills Corp. took the wraps off a $100 million makeover of Cincinnati Mills (formerly Forest Fair Mall), in Forest Park, which has 200 stores.
Feldman, whose firm specializes in reinvigorating established malls, said he doesn't view Cincinnati Mills or Tri-County as Northgate's main competition.
"Northgate is at the center of a growing northwest corridor, and we're clearly looking to extend our reach and bring more excitement to the mall," he said.
Northgate, which has more than 100 stores, is 93 percent occupied, including anchors Macy's, Dillard's, Sears and J.C. Penney. Feldman said he wants to push the mall's sales, which are running at $300 a square foot, to $350 or more a square foot.
Thor Properties says the 1.5-million-square-foot Tri-County Mall has sales of $370 a square foot.
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