City of Charleston looks to take ownership of Town Center Mall
By Matthew Young, RealWV
CHARLESTON, W.Va. – New life may be on the horizon for the ailing Charleston Town Center. Once considered the largest downtown shopping mall east of the Mississippi River, the mall has been in decline since the early-2000’s. Opened to the public in 1983, the mall was built to accommodate approximately 150 retail and food service tenants. Now, the mall is home to just 28 such businesses, as well as the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame and a U.S. Post Office.
None of the mall’s four original anchor stores remain. Montgomery Ward shuttered in 2001, and Kaufman’s was transitioned into a Macy’s Department Store in 2007. Sears closed its doors in 2017, with Macy’s following just one year later. Both locations would eventually be demolished. JCPenney, the final original anchor store – and only anchor store remaining – was closed last May.
After two-decades spent hemorrhaging tenants such as The Disney Store, McDonalds, Olive Garden, and Steve & Barry’s, the Charleston Town Center would eventually be purchased by the Georgia-based Hull Property Group in 2021. Although still one of the largest, self-contained downtown shopping malls in North America, Hull’s ownership of the property would result in little other than more empty spaces.
However, where visitors to the mall see that growing empty space, Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin, it would seem, sees opportunity.
During her State of the City Address, delivered during Monday’s meeting of the Charleston City Council, Goodwin said, “Over the last year, we have been in discussion with the Hull Group…to transfer ownership of the mall property to the City of Charleston.”
Shuler expressed her belief that the Charleston Town Center had once “defined an era,” but that “that era has passed.” Bringing the property under the City’s control, she added, would set the stage for “the largest economic development project in Charleston in the past 40 years.”
“We may not know exactly what this site will look like in five or ten years, but we know what it must do: fuel economic growth, create opportunities, connect our city, and serve what is best for the next generation of Charlestonians,” Shuler said. “Once we complete the acquisition of the property, we will immediately work with top developers nationwide to determine its future use.”
According to reporting from WVMetroNews, city officials are negotiating with the Hull Group for the Town Center to be presented as a donation to the City. And as reported by the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Shuler said that talks between the two sides have been going “really, really well.”
RealWV will provide updates regarding the status of the Charleston Town Center as additional information is made available.
