Mall at Green Hills adding real estate

Mall owner's recent property acquisition could portend some big happenings

Email | Print By Richard Lawson

04-25-2007 9:51 AM — The Mall at Green Hills looks to be prepping for future development on its periphery.

Its owner, Davis Street Land Co., has bought the Cleghorn Buildings at 3814 and 3818 Cleghorn Ave. for nearly $5.4 million. And, as part of a purchase agreement signed last October, it has a lease on the former Club at Green Hills location, according to Metro property records. There are no price details on the former health club site.

Since buying the mall six years ago, Davis Street has invested a lot of money in the place, redoing portions of it to make room for new food offerings and higher-end retailers. The new tenants include Tiffany & Co., luxury luggage and handbag retailer Louis Vuitton, clothier Anne Klein New York and shoe and accessories retailer Stuart Weitzman. The Cheesecake Factory is the biggest new restaurant at the mall.

Together, the Cleghorn Buildings and the former health club property total two acres. There's been talk for some time of another department store — with Nashville's first Nordstrom always at the top of the discussion. How much real estate would be needed is another question.

The two small office buildings total 24,000 square feet and, according to real estate brokers, their purchase price works out to be a hefty cost per square foot for office space — about $222. That certainly is a lofty figure for something else not to be in the works. "The mall is unavailable to provide additional information regarding those transactions at this time," said Scott McClure, the mall's marketing director.

A logical step along Cleghorn would be acquiring the La Paz Restaurant's acre site. Robert Sherman, owner of the property, wouldn't comment on whether he has been approached by Davis Street. La Paz is open, but its long-term health could be in question. Its Kennesaw, Ga.-based parent, Mexican Specialty Foods, has had a federal tax lien totaling $632,618 against it since last September. A company official couldn't be reached.

The properties Davis Street now controls back up to the office building and parking garage owned by developers Newton Oldacre McDonald and John Rochford. They have talked about doing a high rise residential and hotel project in place of the building, but there are no plans currently public. Clearly, it's very strategic piece of property relative to the mall.

If Davis Street has a plan, it doesn't appear to be immediate in nature. Tenants in the Cleghorn buildings haven't been given notice to move out. "The basically said if they do anything with the property, they will let us know," a manager at Dove Cleaners said.

Wayne Clark, a manager at E.J. Sain Jewelry, said the previous owner of the property had been told the buildings would be torn down and something else built, but that the buildings would be intact until next year. Whatever Davis Street does won't matter to E.J. Sain Jewelry. Its lease runs out in July, and the 105-year-old retailer will move into the new Hill Center built on the former site of Green Hills' H.G. Hill grocery. Sain used to be in the strip center adjoining that store.