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Date: 11/28/2018
ENFIELD – As the mall has struggled to occupy its location with retailers, the Enfield Square Mall is up for auction on Dec. 10 through Ten-X.com, according to a listing on real estate website LoopNet.
According to Ten-X, the property is currently 57.5 percent occupied and is settled on over 66 acres of land. The starting bid is $3.8 million. The starting bid is significantly lower than the appraised value of $27.5 million in 2017.
In 2015, Enfield Square Mall management pitched the location as a proposed satellite casino operated jointly by the owners of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, but it was ultimately not approved by the city council.
In 2017, the location was presented as a potential location for the new Amazon headquarters. However, Enfield Square Mall never became a finalist.
Since its inception, the mall has seen several retailers come and go from the location including Hot Topic, Ruby Tuesday and Hallmark. Most recently, women’s clothing retailer Charlotte Russe pulled down the gate over their storefront for good. Today, a vast majority of the storefronts housed by the Enfield Square Mall are gated off and used only to display advertisements for remaining stores and local town events. Among the most bustling attractions are Target, the recently expanded Party City and the twelve-screen Enfield Cinema.
Enfield Square Mall first opened in 1971 with three anchor stores including G. Fox, JCPenney and Steigers. Other notable retailers present in the early beginnings of the mall included Child World, Chess King and Record Town.
In 1993, G. Fox was converted to a Filenes. JCPenney closed in 2000, allowing for Filenes to expand their men’s and home departments into the vacant space. Filenes was rebranded as Macy’s Department Store in 2006.
After Steigers went out of business in 1994, Sears took over as anchor in its place. Target was added as an anchor store in 2001.
Between 2016-early 2017, both Macy’s and Sears closed, leaving Target the only remaining anchor store and eliminating the last of the original anchor stores.
In 2016, J.P. Morgan Chase foreclosed on the mall after Centro Enfield, LLC defaulted on a $240 million loan from 2006.
The Macy’s location on the property remains vacant, but is still currently owned by the Macy’s Corporation. Target currently leases their location. According to the Ten-X auction page, the retailer has eight years remaining on its lease. Target recently renovated the location.
Despite factors such as stores filing for bankruptcy and larger malls in close proximity, residents of Enfield still believe the property has an opportunity to become an asset to the community.
Alison Malcolm, a Connecticut resident, feels that Enfield Square is the heart of Enfield shopping and would like to see the mall florish. “Without Enfield Square, there’s a big space in the area. If someone could purchase the building and fill spaces with activities, I think a lot of residents would come back and breathe life back into the mall.”
JLL, the advisor real estate company for the auction of the Enfield Square Mall, referred to the mall as “an exceptional redevelopment opportunity” on the LoopNet website.
Undeterred by the auction of the mall, holiday events will take place this December including the 3rd Annual “Tree”Mendous Holiday Celebration now until Dec. 9, Chanukah in Enfield on Dec. 6, and visits from Santa until Dec. 24.
Martin Pelosi, General Manager of Enfield Square Mall, declined to comment.