Struggling Richland Mall could get $100M+ overhaul, as county considers incentives

The long-discussed redevelopment of Richland Mall in Forest Acres is on the precipice of taking a significant step forward, as Richland County Council is considering tax incentives for a Georgia development firm that plans to facilitate more than $100 million in new investments to overhaul the property of the mostly vacant mall.

County Council is set to take a final vote later this month on the incentive agreement with Augusta-based developers Southeastern. The matter was set for a public hearing and final vote at council’s Oct. 4 meeting but was ultimately deferred until Oct. 18.

Richland Mall, which was built in its current form in 1988, has been the subject of redevelopment talks for years. The mall sits at the bustling intersection of Forest Drive and Beltline Boulevard. While retailers there have come and gone through the years, the nearly 1 million-square-foot facility sits largely empty today, though there are a few national tenants, such as Belk and Barnes & Noble.

But earlier this year, the spark of redevelopment began to take hold, as mall officials confirmed the property was under contract for sale to an at-the-time unnamed developer. Via public records, it is now known that the developer is Southeastern, the Augusta-based firm that has a host of retail, residential, hospitality and other business developments in its portfolio, with projects across the Southeast. The county’s Oct. 4 meeting agenda packet shows that the incentive agreement is with with SE Forest Acres, LLC. The registered agent of that limited liability company listed in filings with the S.C. Secretary of State is an upper level executive with Southeastern.

When reached Thursday morning, a vice president with Southeastern said he could not yet comment on details of the Richland Mall redevelopment.

But county paperwork associated with the agreement, available in Richland County Council’s Oct. 4 meeting agenda packet, sheds a bit of light on what could come of the mall property at 3400 Forest Drive. It says that the project would be “a mixed-use commercial development” and that the project would generate a minimum of $101 million in new taxable investment.

Forest Acres Mayor Frank Brunson said he couldn’t comment on the deal Thursday morning, and a city spokeswoman said the city wouldn’t talk about the redevelopment until after the final reading by County Council. The State also left a message for Richland County Council Chairman Overture Walker.

But leaders have long expressed desire to see the mall site overhauled to a mixed-use development that could include retail, residences, offices and more.

“It needs to be sort of like a mixed-use, multi-use town center,” Brunson previously told The State in a Feb. 4 interview. “That is what we are hoping for. ... (Redeveloping the mall property) has been a topic of conversation at just about every other meeting we have, and it is also something that, when I see people out at church or at work, they are asking me, ‘When are we going to do something about that mall?’”

When reached Thursday morning, mall general manager Joe Walker II said that all suitors for the Forest Acres site have entertained “a mixed-use facility, from housing to office space to retail and everything in-between.”

“There has never been a question that this would be a fantastic site for that kind of thing,” Walker II said.

Mixed-use developments have been increasingly popular in recent years. As an example not far from the Richland Mall site is the Cardinal Crossing development in Forest Acres, which features restaurants, shops and more than 250 new apartments.

The mall site is in the middle of a high-traffic area, with state statistics showing that more than 27,000 cars per day travel down Forest Drive near the property, with 25,000 cars per day heading down Beltline Boulevard.