Columbus and the local hospital system have completed the purchase of the FairOaks Mall on Friday, the first step in its eventual redevelopment into a year-round community recreational and sports tourism complex.
The city and Columbus Regional Health partnered, with the help of a grant from the Heritage Fund — The Community Foundation of Bartholomew County, to purchase the 35-acre mall property from FairOaks Mall Owner LLC for $5.9 million. The paperwork was completed and signed at 11 a.m. Friday, when the new owners took control of the property.
The partners created the FairOaks Community Development Corp. as the purchaser of the property and its board as the oversight for future development of the property.
With the takeover of the mall, the remaining 15 tenants will notice few changes for the next year, other than their landlord has changed, according to board members.
For at least the next three years, retail businesses operating in the mall — which opened in 1990 — will have an opportunity to be part of the transformation, Mayor Jim Lienhoop said. All existing tenant leases will be honored, he said.
However, Tom Brosey, a retired Cummins Inc. executive hired by the city to assist with the transaction and future redevelopment, has said the development corporation, the city and the hospital system are not interested in running a retail-focused mall.
In an earlier interview, Brosey was clear about the new direction the mall property would be taking.
“We have no intention for it to be primarily retail,” Brosey said. “Retail can be complementary. For example, Dunham’s (Sports) could be very complementary to the sports and recreation programming.”
Food and restaurant services are also complementary to the suggested sports-tourism use for the mall property, he said earlier.
For more on this story, see Saturday’s Republic.
