The nation’s first green shopping center is back under local ownership.
Savannah real estate investor David Garfunkel has purchased Abercorn Common, the environmentally friendly strip mall at Abercorn Street and White Bluff Road, for $24.2 million. The deal closed today.
The Garfunkel family’s company, AJ&C Garfunkel, has been in business in Savannah for 104 years and owns investment properties in 11 states, including Twelve Oaks and Largo Plaza shopping centers on Abercorn Street. David Garfunkel’s firm, David Garfunkel & Co., is a subsidiary of AJ&C Garfunkel.
“We’re excited to own a beautiful property located right out our backdoor,” said Garfunkel, whose office is nearby on Mall Boulevard. “It’s the first certified LEED shopping center and has been well-maintained.”
Garfunkel purchased the property from a real estate investment firm based in Miami Beach, Fla., known as LNR Property. LNR bought the property in January 2011 from Melaver Inc., a Savannah-based family owned company, for $20.5 million, according to Chatham County property tax records.
LNR’s purchase came a little more than a month after Melaver Inc.’s lender, Bank of America, gave legal notice of foreclosure.
Abercorn Common tenants contacted Thursday were pleased to hear the center is locally owned again.
Garfunkel’s first goal as Abercorn Common’s new owner is to fill the shopping center’s two vacancies. He is in negotiations with two national clients, one in the food industry, the other in retail, and said he hopes to secure those leases soon.
He also plans to “freshen up” the landscaping.
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