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The highly anticipated Greenspoint Mall deal may not be as done as many hope.
Maddox Properties’ Jim Maddox, the broker behind the mall's Macy’s and soon the Dillard's, said he has no idea what the mall's investors, Global Plaza Union, led by Chinese developer Feng Gao, are talking about with their recently released redevelopment plans.
“I think it’s full of sh*t,” Maddox said.
Maddox is behind the private investor who purchased the Macy’s earlier this year. The new owner, Spring Real Estate Investment's Zulfiqar Karedia, is planning to convert a four-acre tract along I-45 into a truck stop. Maddox is also representing a client buying the Dillard's, which went under contract last week and is set to close next month. Maddox has lined up a restaurant distribution user.
Reggie Gray, president of the Houston Intercontinental Chamber of Commerce and a partner in the mall redevelopment project, told the Houston Chronicle that Sears, Macy’s and Dillard's must agree to sell before any redevelopment can begin at the declining mall. Gray said the investors have approached each company with purchase offers. If they do not cooperate, he said, the "all-or-nothing kind of project" will fail.
But Maddox has other plans for the Macy’s and Dillard's. He has received offers and counteroffers for the space, but told the investors he is moving forward with the plans for the users he reps. His client is not looking to flip the property.
Maddox had not heard anything about a redevelopment either. When he showed the Chinese brokers repping Gao the Macy's space on Monday, they were talking about turning it into storage for a construction materials company, not a redevelopment, he said.
Maddox said he had a heated conversation with Gray after the meeting. Maddox explained to Gray that he had lined up two users for the anchor locations he represents.
“I said I might could move them if y'all want to buy the store, but he got all pissy with me about how we’re going to ruin the entire redevelopment of the area. I hung up on him. I don’t know what their deal is,” Maddox said.
Reggie Gray and reps from Global Plaza Union could not be reached as of press time.
As for Sears, Maddox said he has been in contact with its owners too about possibly buying it, but he said they were asking $4M, an absurdly high price in his opinion.
Maddox has spoken with the mall's operator, Triyar Cannon Group, which has reiterated it does not want the truck stop to go in, because it would detract from the sale of the mall.
“There’s no mall there anyway,” Maddox said.
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