CEDAR RAPIDS, IA—Tremont Capital Corp. and Cedar Rapids Properties Inc. have sold the struggling Westdale Mall here to local investors, who have a $90-million plan to redevelop the property into mixed uses.
The 743,369-sq.-ft. mall, on 72 acres at the intersection of Williams Boulevard and Edgewood Road, opened in 1979, and had 115 stores with four anchors by 1981. However, the mall slumped during the recession, dropping to less than 50% occupied, and only two of its anchors, JCPenney and Younkers, remain.
Kris Cooper and Margaret Caldwell, managing directors with Jones Lang LaSalle’s Capital Markets, represented the owners in the sale. Local investors Scott Byers with Gibbs Lamb Drown Commercial and John Frew with Frew Development Group have reportedly secured $15 million in incentives from the city through tax increment financing to turn the mall property around.
The investors will reportedly demolish part of the mall and build housing, a hotel and offices. The city supports the plan.