An Atlanta-based development group has bought the Southchase Shopping Center in southside Savannah and plans to revitalize the mostly vacant plaza by bringing in national craft-supply retailer Hobby Lobby.
RCG Ventures paid $6.3 million for the 90,000-square-foot property, which was owned previously by Dean Forest Partners.
RCG’s director of development, Jeff Miller, said his company plans to invest $1 million in upgrades to the property, including reconfiguring the space formerly occupied by Rhodes Furniture for the Hobby Lobby and improving road signage. The shopping center sits back from Abercorn Street nestled between Lowe’s and Home Depot behind a Chick-fil-A and Applebee’s.
PetSmart, the only remaining tenant, will renew its lease and serve as the second anchor store. RCG is looking for two smaller tenants to fill the middle units, totaling 5,000 square feet. Miller said they’ll also add an ATM drive-thru on the property.
RCG Ventures is a privately owned company with 71 shopping centers in 18 states. Miller said his group found the property appealing because of the vacant anchor store.
“There’s a limited supply of anchor space in the Abercorn corridor, and so that originally excited us about the project,” said Miller.
Hobby Lobby, headquartered in Oklahoma City, has 584 stores nationwide — including one in Statesboro — and offers an array of crafting supplies and home décor. Miller said RCG had a longstanding relationship with the chain, which had been looking for a location in the Savannah market for about seven years.
Another motivating factor for RCG was the extension of the Truman Parkway, which is expected to be fully operational this year.
“(It’s) really going to open up the accessibility to the northeast part of Savannah,” said Miller. “All the people who live out on the islands, they’re not going to travel all the way down Abercorn to get to where we are or the Savannah Mall. But with the new extension, it’s going to be a much easier route of travel for them.”
The Southchase Shopping Center was built in the mid ’90s and purchased by Dean Forest Partners for about $8.8 million in 2003, when it was still fully occupied. The property has 405 parking spaces and has been under occupied since Rhodes Furniture closed several years ago.
The Southchase Shopping Center deal was brokered by commercial real estate firms Colliers International and Cassidy Turley.