SENECA, Pa. (EYT) — Just over two months after the Cranberry Mall was once again listed for sale on LoopNet at a price of $3.5MM, Los Angeles-based Oakwood Management Group has listed the property for sale on Ten-X, a real estate auction site.
The auction is scheduled to be open from October 31 through November 3, 2022, with an opening bid set at $1.3MM.
The Ten-X listing states that the mall has a 43.4% occupancy rate and lists Dunham’s Sports, Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, and the Movies at Cranberry as its anchor tenants. A closer look at the listing shows that there are 27 vacancies out of the mall’s 92 units, including the 45,050 square foot unit that used to be The Bon-Ton and the 33,845 square foot unit that used to be JC Penney. The 86,567 square foot space that used to be Sears is shown as occupied, though its current tenant, Venango County Co-Op, has room for additional vendors.
Several tenants have left Cranberry Mall in recent months citing rising rents and what they’ve characterized as unreasonable treatment when Oakwood Management Group required them to pay higher rates retroactively in order to extend their lease. When they wouldn’t agree to the new terms, they were evicted with as little as a two-day notice, according to Patty Ace. Ace’s store, DAPA Decor, was a tenant from 2018 until they were evicted on August 1, 2022.
“I know we’re up for sale. We have been. I didn’t know about Ten-X until a couple of weeks ago,” said Jeff Clark, the mall’s assistant property manager. “I really don’t know if it will sell. I have no idea what they’re asking for.”
Clark said he has worked at the Cranberry Mall since January 20, 1986, and has worked for six different owners during that time.
Even with the high vacancy rate, the listing’s financial analysis shows the property is turning a net profit each year. But with a dilapidating exterior, a parking lot filled with potholes, and competition from Walmart, Home Depot, Dollar Tree, Harbor Freight, and Tractor Supply in the immediate area, community members wonder about the future of the mall. In a meeting of the Cranberry Economic Development Committee last month, the idea of utilizing the space to fill the need for senior housing was discussed.
Cranberry Mall’s owners see their retail competition as a positive sign that shoppers are coming to the area to spend their money. They note that 10,000 cars travel past the mall each day.
The interior entrance to what used to be JC Penney.
Ten-X and LoopNet are both owned by parent company CoStar Group. According to their website, CoStar Group is a publicly-traded company (Nasdaq: CSGP) based in Washington DC that provides analytics and marketing services to the commercial real estate industry.
