The nation’s first green shopping center is back under local ownership.
Local real estate investor David Garfunkel has purchased Abercorn Common, the environmentally friendly strip mall at Abercorn Street and White Bluff Road, for $24.2 million. The deal closed Thursday.
The Garfunkel family’s company, AJ&C Garfunkel, has been in business in Savannah for 104 years and owns investment properties in 11 states, including Twelve Oaks and Largo Plaza shopping centers on Abercorn Street. David Garfunkel’s firm, David Garfunkel & Co., is a subsidiary of AJ&C Garfunkel.
“We’re excited to own a beautiful property located right out our backdoor,” said Garfunkel, whose office is nearby on Mall Boulevard. “It’s the first certified LEED shopping center and has been well-maintained.”
Garfunkel purchased the property from a real estate investment firm based in Miami Beach, Fla., known as LNR Property. LNR bought the property in January 2011 from Melaver Inc., a Savannah-based family owned company, for $20.5 million, according to Chatham County property tax records.
LNR’s purchase came a little more than a month after Melaver Inc.’s lender, Bank of America, gave legal notice of foreclosure.
Abercorn Common tenants contacted Thursday were pleased to hear the center is locally owned again.
“It’s nice to know you have somebody local who can take care of all your needs,” said Rick Wortley, owner of F.P. Wortley Jewelers, a business that has called Abercorn Common home since the shopping center opened in late 2005. “Their office is pretty close. It’s nice to have a real landlord.”
Garfunkel’s first goal as Abercorn Common’s new owner is to fill the shopping center’s two vacancies. He is in negotiations with two national clients, one in the food industry, the other in retail, and said he hopes to secure those leases soon.
He also plans to “freshen up” the landscaping.
Abercorn Common is America’s first shopping center to receive the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification. The center was hailed as a prototype for sustainable retail development.
Abercorn Common’s environmental features include a cistern that collects rainwater for irrigation, waterless urinals, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems, a porous concrete parking lot that allows water to pass through to the ground and a special roof coating that reflects heat from the sun. Recycled materials were used in its construction.
Garfunkel was attracted to Abercorn Common’s prime location as much as he was to its green features. The shopping center sits adjacent to Oglethorpe Mall and across the street from Oglethorpe Plaza, home to the Kohl’s store that opened last month.
“Synergy is a wonderful thing, and we’re pleased to see Kohl’s across the street,” Garfunkel said. “It all adds more to dynamics of the area.”
ABOUT ABERCORN COMMON
The retail center measures 185,244 square feet and is located at the intersection of Abercorn Street and White Bluff Road. It is the first certified LEED shopping center in the United States. Anchor tenants include Home Goods, Michaels, Party City, Office Depot, Ulta, Ashley Furniture. Other national tenants include Firehouse Subs, Panera Bread, McDonalds, Motherhood, Oreck and Sprint.