Southern Park Owner Signs Letter of Intent with Fitness Center

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – A national fitness center operator has finalized a letter of intent with Washington Prime Group for space at Southern Park Mall in Boardman, a spokeswoman for the mall developer confirmed.

Additional details about the potential tenant will be released if and when a lease is finalized, said Kimberly Green, vice president, investor relations and corporate communications, in an email.

The Columbus-based real estate company in June announced plans to “reposition” the space occupied by the closed Sears department store into “exterior-access, lifestyle oriented space” that would include retail, dining and entertainment, Green said in an email. It also would include an outdoor athletic and entertainment greenspace adjacent to the Cinemark Tinseltown theater.

“Planning is preliminary and evolving,” said Washington Prime’s vice president of development, Matt Jurkowitz, when the plans were announced in June.

Plans to redevelop the Sears space have been in place since April 2018, shortly after Sears Holdings announced the store would close.

Earlier this month, M+A Architects, Columbus, applied to the Mahoning County Building Department for permits to demolish the Sears portion of the mall and additional tenant spaces, and the adjacent Sears Auto Repair Center.

According to the application, the 28,000-square-foot auto center building would be demolished first, followed by the 110,100-square-foot main Sears building section.

Pictured: A preliminary rendering of the proposed greenspace at Southern Park Mall.

Copyright 2020 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.