Late Night Real Estate: Buy A Mall in North Texas
There is a dang mall up for auction! Described as a “rare 57-acre redevelopment opportunity” (those ARE rare!) this is a mall in Sherman, Texas simply begging for reinvention. Maybe you have a few questions! What kind of mall town is Sherman for instance?
It is about an hour north of Dallas and about 20 minutes from the Oklahoma border. A boil order was rescinded last week, the city council proposed a plan to create a registry for vacant buildings downtown, and there was a fireworks show over the fourth. That’s the news! Now, for Midway Mall, the property you’ll be bidding on starts at $1,500,000.
Here’s what residents think about it, per Yelp:
“This place has turned into a joke. I don’t see how they keep the doors open. Aside from there shady business practices this place used to be very popular. Nothing has been updated in years, it’s really kinda [sic] geoss.” — Johnny W. (one star)
“A few locally owned stores have opened up. Mish Mash has a lot of cool items from knives & swords to winter apparel and hard to find items like military grade laser pointers and neoprene facemask…there is a sports shop that sells all licensed sports stuff for every team and dog stuff at great prices…” — Bill P. (five stars)
“Back in my youth, I shopped this mall with my grandmother. At the time it was the hot spot in Sherman, Texas. And the only mall in what we call Texomaland.
It had all the big stores, Sears, J.C. Penney’s, Bealls, Dillard’s, and numerous smaller shops.
Now the majority of the stores have moved to various shopping centers, where a growth of businesses have opened on US HWY-75.” — Lori L. (one star)
Mish Mash appears to be a thriving variety store in the mall. Signs outside offer, respectively, body jewelry, high-power laser pointers, knives, swords, and video games. Owner Bill Pasch told the Herald Democrat back in 2018 that he started Mish Mash as a seasonal kiosk and it grew to three locations. “I get tickled every time I go to Walmart or somewhere and people recognize me,” Pasch said. “It’s always a good feeling. People tell me they enjoy the store — everyone says it’s the coolest store.”
Here are some business perks, according to the listing from Ten-X. Midway Mall is in close proximity to Texoma Medical Center, the “#1 Ranked Regional Healthcare Provider,” and in an area experiencing rapid population growth of 10% since 2010. It’s the only major mall north of Dallas and south of Oklahoma! And yet it’s sat mostly empty for a while now. The only stores open seem to be Dillard’s, Bath & Body Works, Taz Jewelers, Burlington, and Jump ‘N Land Indoor Inflatable Party Place.
A few dead mall enthusiasts have done walking tours through this mall here and here. Retail blog Labelscar attributes the mall’s quiet to “bland carpeting, giant palm trees, sterile marble planters, and three circus-like tents,” but we here at Indoor Pool Real Estate Agency think that with all the people GoProing their way through America’s failing malls right now, that’s exactly what we seem to want. This place’s indoor foliage is unmatched!
So, of course, do what you will — your company will have spent at least $1.5 million after all — but maybe keep the plants and add a tactile art experience, an arcade, a paint ‘n sip place, a coffee shop with lots of flavored lattes, and a summer concert series. People WILL be craving community in the air conditioning, that’s our trend forecast!
Bidding begins in 31 days, 11 hours and about 44 minutes. Register here!
All images are screenshots courtesy of WallieB26 on YouTube.
February 19, 2019
In "Features"