Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish announces deal to preserve the Gainesville Mall

Press release from Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish Realtors
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish Realtors Commercial Real Estate Team, the CRE Pro Team, has successfully preserved the historical essence of the Gainesville Mall by convincing a prominent buyer to undertake a comprehensive renovation, defying the trend of demolishing older structures.
The Gainesville Mall, a cherished landmark with decades of history, has been sectioned off, sold, and demolished over the years. The section that was recently sold was still owned by the original Gainesville Mall LLC.
The Gainesville Mall opened in 1967 and has long held indelible memories for many Alachua County residents as Gainesville’s first “real” mall. The portion recently sold served as the mall’s Publix Grocery Store as well as Morrison’s Cafe, Piccadilly, and more.
The CRE Pro Team recognized the potential in this iconic property and embarked on a mission to secure its future. “Historically, the Gainesville Mall was the cornerstone of Gainesville’s retail shopping district,” said Crag Carter of CRE Pro Team. “We’re proud to have been a part of turning the dream of revitalization into a reality.”
After years of unsuccessful marketing by other real estate companies, it took CRE Pro Team just 4 months to secure a buyer – and another 4 months to close on the property. The team’s insistence on preserving the building made the sale viable. “At the end of the day you have to solve problems for your clients… and that’s what we do,” said Dean Cheshire of CRE Pro Team.
“It was a challenge, but we knew The Gainesville Mall had more to offer than how it had previously been presented,” added CRE Pro Team’s Michelle Carter. “This is a big deal.”
This is the second mall property CRE Pro team has sold in the last year, having recently facilitated the sale of 7 acres of the Oaks Mall south parking lot – now being developed into multi-family apartments.
Any hope of preservation of that space ended when Lowe’s was built.
There is no more “mall” with nice terrazzo hallways, high ceilings, and a Burdines; that was all demolished to build Lowe’s. Now, what they are calling “the historic Gainesville Mall” is a small, plain-looking strip mall with a parking lot, probably less than 10 percent of the original mall’s retail space. It sounds like a gimmick to charge extra for rent.
Yeah, total BS coldwell banker story. There’s nothing historical there at all…someone new just came in and bought the property…
Where is the Gainesville Mall located?
Where Lowes is on Nw 13th street and 23rd Ave. There’s nothing left of the original mall that was there. This whole story is a total crock
Agreed. I was reading this thinking,
who are they kidding?
Total crock, false story and information. There’s nothing left of the original gainesville mall. It’s now Lowes and a furniture store.
Horray for Parrish for their foresight and ability to stop destruction of what made Gainesville.
Tearing down “old Gainesville” and replacing it with cookie cuter whatever, removes our individuality as a community.
I suggest those who do not understand this, remove themselves to a place that pleases them.
Don’t mess with what makes Gainesville, Gainesville.
Geez, we get tired of these dudes!
Go away, stay away!
Gainesville deserves better.
It sounds like you completely misled the buyer. Maybe a press release wasn’t the smartest idea.
So is this a news story or an advertisement? I looked for the author and it says “Press release from Coldwell Banker M.M. Parrish Realtors”. So this non-sense is just free advertising? Where do I sign up?
If you read carefully, this has a lot of info and several links to photos of the old Gainesville Mall. Make sure to expand the comments.
https://www.reddit.com/r/GNV/comments/d9azg8/looking_for_photos_of_the_gainesville_mall_that/?rdt=59655
This is a single picture showing the Publix that stood where the strip mall is now (you can see the cafeteria on the end of the building then, too). The main part of mall is off in the distance, across the parking lot.
https://imgur.com/dT2x4DK
THIS PROPERTY IS ON MAIN SREET NOT 13THSTREET.
1ST PUBLIX AND WHERE BELKS WAS AT END WHERE PUBLIX IS NOW