DEARBORN – Fairlane Mall once again has a new owner.
A Dallas-based real estate firm bought Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn and may add housing to the mall property in the future, closing the sale on Wednesday.
Centennial owns a dozen other enclosed shopping malls in the U.S. The sale price was not disclosed. The former owner, Starwood Retail Partners, acquired Fairlane in 2014 from Taubman Centers. The mall was in receivership at the time of this week’s sale.
According to The Detroit News, Centennial liked how Fairlane is in a good location near major employers and how it is still a viable mall that weathered the COVID-19 pandemic.
Centennial may convert the mall into a mixed-use development and add housing and possibly medical-related tenants. The housing could be built in the mall’s parking lot, which is now too big for the number of mall visitors, the company said.
“Fairlane Town Center is an excellent investment for Centennial and its partners; and while we will continue to operate it as the popular local shopping center it has long been, our plan is to make it a mixed-use redevelopment in the future,” CIO Carl Tash said in a statement.
Fairlane reported 83 percent occupancy rate as of February, according to the city of Dearborn. Dearborn’s new administration has also envisioned new uses for the property in the future, including using it for possible flood mitigation, but no plans have solidified yet.
The mall’s neighbor, the 773-room former Dearborn Hyatt, is to undergo redevelopment as housing after being sold in October to a New York developer.
Fairlane is just the latest Metro Detroit mall to change hands this year. In March, Oakland Mall in Troy was sold to 31-year-old real estate investor Mario Kiezi, the News said.
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