Fairhills Shopping Center sold to new owner

Fairhills Shopping Center has a new owner and a new vision following a sale this month.

Changes at Fairhills could include new national retailers and a reconfiguration of some retail space.

Fairhills is  on Springfield's northeast side, bounded by Washington Street, Chatham Road and Monroe Avenue. It hosts a handful of restaurants, a County Market and other businesses.

Sean Namvar of Los Angeles is manager of Fairhills Investors Equity LLC, the company set up to purchase Fairhills Shopping Center. The sale was completed earlier this month. Namvar heads Equimax Management, which manages more than five million square feet of retail space in California and the St. Louis area. Namvar says the mall's location on a hill made it attractive because of its good visibility from several directions.

"When we first saw it, we liked the way it was situated," he said.

The first change at Fairhills will be replacing the roof, which Namvar says has needed repairs for some time. He says three current tenants have renewed their leases, which typically last between five and ten years, and he's confident the other tenants will also renew.

"We're very committed to turning the center around and making it a vibrant center in town," he said. "We're committed to keeping the tenants happy."

Tim Mathis, a commercial real estate broker with Coldwell Banker Commercial Devonshire Realty in Springfield, will handle marketing the vacancies at Fairhills. Mathis says the 100,000-square-foot mall has several openings, ranging from a few hundred square feet to a possible consolidated space which could encompass 20,000 square feet. Plans for Fairhills include developing an outlot to have a freestanding national retailer, Mathis says, as well as a mix of small and large businesses.

He says the mall has several advantages, like good visibility and strong traffic from the nearby schools and residential areas. According to Mathis, the prices for the open spaces at Fairhills will be quite reasonable.

"The way it’s priced for the traffic level and all the area has to offer," he said, "it’s probably the best deal in Springfield for its category."

Namvar says the decision to invest in Springfield was easy.

"We're real estate investors, so we look at opportunities everywhere," he said. "We go see properties to make sure they fit our guidelines. Fairhills makes sense for our model."

Contact Patrick Yeagle at [email protected].

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