The State and Mapleton Plaza shopping center along the city’s State Street corridor has changed hands after a commercial real estate investor purchased the property in a deal worth more than $1 million.
Joel J. Gorjian, vice president of acquisitions and dispositions at Namdar Realty Group, acquired the property in an all-cash, off-market transaction after it was sold by a private investor.
Namdar Realty Group is a privately held commercial real estate investment and management firm based in Great Neck, New York, that owns and operates more than 20 million square feet of commercial real estate across the country.
The 19,425-square-foot State and Mapleton Plaza, at 2150 State St., is fully occupied with a CVS pharmacy and Dollar General Store serving as anchor tenants, Gorjian said in a news release.
The shopping center’s tenants include Flowers from the Woods flower shop, which occupies a freestanding 1,850-square-foot building on the property.
Gorjian said he has no immediate plans to make changes to the property but is open to changes in the future.
The State Street corridor is undergoing revitalization, and Gorjian said the firm plans to work with the city moving forward.
State Street commitment
The city approved a modification to its State Street project in July to link an urban trail from Mill Race Park along Fifth Street all the way to the city’s east side.The Columbus Redevelopment Commis- sion approved the revisions earlier this summer, along with modifying United Engineer’s contract for the State Street project to accommodate the route and project changes. The changes raised the total cost of the project from the original $717,000 to about $1.61 million.
The city also recently awarded a contract to Force Construction, a Columbus-based firm, to perform work on the first phase of the State Street revitalization project. The company will be paid $2,112,457 for the work, which includes improvements to the Haw Creek bridge leading to the intersection of Second, Third and State streets and Central Avenue.
City Councilman Dascal Bunch, who represents the city’s east side, said revitalization efforts are ongoing.
“The more we’re on it, the more people are jumping on board and trying to help out,” Bunch said.
The Columbus Bowling Center already has taken steps to make improvements by repaving its parking lot and boosting the appearance inside the facility, Bunch said.
Bunch said the revitalization effort has spurred other activity.
“We’re excited about getting more and more people to come over there and we’re starting to get other small companies coming in, and they’re starting to buy up properties,” Bunch said. “It’s exciting.”
Bunch said the city hopes to make the area more pedestrian-friendly for bicyclists, although he stressed the revitalization process will take some time. He hopes the area will eventually become full of activity like it once was in the 1950s and 1960s.
“It’s not going to happen overnight, we know that and we’ve got a lot of people who are really interested in coming over and buying (property),” he said.
He also said acquisitions like the one Gorjian made will be beneficial to the city in the long run.
“I can really say when an investor buys something like that, it’s nothing but good, and that will enhance other people coming around,” Bunch said.
Gorjian said his company is pursuing additional acquisition opportunities in the Midwest, in particular in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.
