CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Matt Sutton, chief of staff for Charleston Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin, says the city is having good conversations with the owner of the Town Center Mall property and what the future will hold for the large space.
“We do have some conversations and some positive momentum going as it relates to the future of that property,” Sutton said on “580 Live” on WCHS Radio Tuesday morning.
The conversations Goodwin and her staff are having are with the Georgia-based Hull Property Group, who purchased the Town Center Mall back in 2021. Since the purchase, the Sears and Macy’s anchor stores have been demolished, and JCPenney — the mall’s final anchor store — closed its doors.
Sutton says the mall will never be what it once was, but it’s there can still be a successful future.
“That was what was needed at that time, and now we have to reimagine what is useful and what can be the next economic growth and the economic driver for the City of Charleston and what that property can be used for,” Sutton said.
“Do I ever see it being a fully packed retail center? No. I think that there are things that can occur in that property and around it that can help spur the next 40 years of development in Charleston. It’s just about getting there and getting everybody on the same page and getting the agreement in place,” he continued.
Sutton says both sides are starting to get on the same page.
“We’re in a better place with those conversations than we were a year ago,” he continued.
Sutton did not go into detail about the conversations with Hull Property Group.
Sutton also touched on the nearby Capital Sports Center that is currently stalled. The complex, which was set to go in at the former Macy’s building, had designs for twelve volleyball courts, about a half dozen basketball courts, pickleball courts, a fitness center, and other sports-related facilities.
The project was halted in April because of a $7 million budget gap that was created when congressional-directed funds failed to go through.
Sutton says the Capital Sports Center project will go as the Town Center property goes.
“The sports complex is tied directly to what’s going on at the mall,” Sutton said. “We’re working through not only some additional funding opportunities that we have, but also what the future of the mall and the property is going to hold.”