[alabama24]

...and the buyer is... Liberty

http://m.wdbj7.com/news/local/lynchburg ... l/38464448

[PAmedic]

Oh boy

Be needing a script for Paxil for @ 80k locals

[alabama24]

Lol I'm sure you can photoshop something together. Just get with PH.

[PAmedic]

he's mid level at best

I deal with the suppliers direct

[alabama24]

Low blow.

[badger74]

Interesting but makes sense given what they already own on the site. Lots of eggs in one smallish basket though.

[alabama24]

Interesting but makes sense given what they already own on the site. Lots of eggs in one smallish basket though.

Meaning this single property? The amount spent on it? Real Estate investments in general? I think long term this is good for the university. We may want that land for other purposes in the future.

[rogers3]

Although I don't like it, if they are doing this for investment, as it looks like they are, it could be a good thing. It seems pretty clear that there is no intent to do something stupid like put a bunch of offices in there. It also sounds like CBL had a plan that Liberty liked, including redevelopment of the Sears site.

[prototype]

I agree. Liberty didn't do this to expand campus - they did this to help grow the mall and make this area better. This area is too big, not to have a better mall.

[alabama24]

I agree. Liberty didn't do this to expand campus - they did this to help grow the mall and make this area better. This area is too big, not to have a better mall.

When I said "other purposes in the future," I was thinking 30 years, not 3 years.

[ALAFlamesFan]

It is not all that unusual these days for colleges to buy up the real estate surrounding their campuses. Alabama is doing the same thing here in Tuscaloosa. It gives them some control of what businesses set up near them, helps influence the look and feel they want to project beyond the typical campus boundaries and helps them capture some of the revenue their students and visitors bring to the local economy. It is a good business move even if they never use the space for University operations. If they decide one day they need to expand then they already own the land and convert it. If I were LU I would already be in line to buy up everything on Wards Road and maybe the community college as well.

[Cider Jim]

Here's the article in the local paper about the purchase:

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/l ... 9002f.html

[ATrain]

It is not all that unusual these days for colleges to buy up the real estate surrounding their campuses. Alabama is doing the same thing here in Tuscaloosa. It gives them some control of what businesses set up near them, helps influence the look and feel they want to project beyond the typical campus boundaries and helps them capture some of the revenue their students and visitors bring to the local economy. It is a good business move even if they never use the space for University operations. If they decide one day they need to expand then they already own the land and convert it. If I were LU I would already be in line to buy up everything on Wards Road and maybe the community college as well.

Actually, in regards to CVCC, there was talk of doing a land swap not long ago. CVCC would get land LU owned near the Odd Fellows Rd. interchange they're building w/ 460 and we'd get the CVCC campus.

[rhezick]

Here's the article in the local paper about the purchase:

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/l ... 9002f.html

Interesting....

"Falwell thought construction is unlikely to begin in the next 12 months because Liberty Online might take a while to fully move out, but he said the school could speed that up if necessary."

So looks like the move to Nationwide might not be as quick as everyone thought?

[badger74]

Interesting but makes sense given what they already own on the site. Lots of eggs in one smallish basket though.

Meaning this single property? The amount spent on it? Real Estate investments in general? I think long term this is good for the university. We may want that land for other purposes in the future.

No, with this and the other nearby center plus the Plaza--that's a lot of retail to own in one fairly small town. I think they also hold some ground leases for the stuff along Wards Rd. Those are safer and less headaches but if they go dark and stop paying rent you could get stuck with big empty box. Costly to re-lease that.
But I like the idea to reconfigure old Sears and nearby land to another concept of open air shops. Add more pad development around the center in that massive parking lot.
Public reaction was more positive than I expected. People want to see it improved.

[lynchburgwildcats]

I agree. Liberty didn't do this to expand campus - they did this to help grow the mall and make this area better. This area is too big, not to have a better mall.

Agreed. The Lynchburg mall is disgracefully bad. Mall in Roanoke is nothing special but demonstrably better.

Generally most indoor malls don't really appeals to me since they are overwhelmingly clothing stores for women or teens and young adults. I really only ever go there for the movie theater once in a blue moon and luckily I can entirely avoid the rest of the mall when I go to the theater.

[ballcoach15]

Sooner or later, Lynchburg will get a Civic Center out of all this.

[Humble_Opinion]

Here's the article in the local paper about the purchase:

http://www.newsadvance.com/news/local/l ... 9002f.html

Interesting....

"Falwell thought construction is unlikely to begin in the next 12 months because Liberty Online might take a while to fully move out, but he said the school could speed that up if necessary."

So looks like the move to Nationwide might not be as quick as everyone thought?

It takes time to repurpose a big building like Nationwide to fit the LUO operation. Granted, the purposes will be similar since Nationwide had a call center there in the building. However, the floor space for their call center isn't nearly large enough for what LUO needs, so they will have to create more, plus lay miles of lines etc. It was a gargantuan effort to get LUO into the Sears building as quickly as they did.

[Humble_Opinion]

Sooner or later, Lynchburg will get a Civic Center out of all this.

I suppose it would be better for the area... but it would require a huge investment on the part of the university. I think it would be difficult for them to recoup that cash.

We have all talked about the end of the cash cow that is online for quite some time. It may take a while, but at some point it likely won't be there the same as it is now. Why invest precious liquidity into huge sunk costs that may not be economically viable on their own? It doesn't make sense.

[ballcoach15]

Let's dream big:

THE DONALD J. TRUMP CIVIC CENTER

[alabama24]

Let's dream big:

THE DONALD J. TRUMP CIVIC CENTER

How about just one of his strip clubs? You can be the bouncer.

[BJWilliams]

SO I did some quickie math after reading an article about the Liberty purchase and based on the fact that Liberty bought their stake for $33.5M for their 75% stake. If there is a linear progression based on that purchase price in the property valuation, that would put the remaining stake at around $11.1M for a total value of approximately $44.6M for the entire mall property...that doesn't sound like a terribly valuable piece of real estate even if the progression isn't linear in the value of the property

[rogers3]

SO I did some quickie math after reading an article about the Liberty purchase and based on the fact that Liberty bought their stake for $33.5M for their 75% stake. If there is a linear progression based on that purchase price in the property valuation, that would put the remaining stake at around $11.1M for a total value of approximately $44.6M for the entire mall property...that doesn't sound like a terribly valuable piece of real estate even if the progression isn't linear in the value of the property

It was listed for 45M, so that makes sense. Remember, CBL does NOT own the anchors- only the theater, the small stores inside the mall, and a few pad sites. Since Liberty owns the Sears site and the adjacent parking, the potential for redevelopment is much greater than if another buyer had stepped forward instead of Liberty. Their cost to buy Sears might have made the deal a no-go, while Liberty has nothing but sunk costs in that portion of the mall. Based on how long this had been in the works, I figured that there was already some plans that CBL had developed to help push Liberty forward. Check out this preliminary site plan. As you can see, the major anchors own a good portion of develop-able land- JCP, Macy's, Belk- CBL only owned the parking area outside of the theater.

[alabama24]

If one of the three restaurants ain't red robin, I'm going to scream. Abuelos would be good for another one.

[HenryGale]

If one of the three restaurants ain't red robin, I'm going to scream. Abuelos would be good for another one.

I all for a Red Robin! But Abuelos is WAAAYYYYY overpriced!