FLINT TWP., MI — A casino inside a retrofitted Genesee Valley shopping center?
There’s no indication any such deal is in the offing but it was one of the first questions a resident asked the township Board of Trustees in a recent meeting — typical of what officials say has been a whirlwind of gossip about what’s ahead for the mall.
Township officials said they haven’t heard a word about future plans from Namdar Realty Group, which owns Genesee Valley, since Macy’s announced its anchor store there would close by the end of March, part of the retailer’s plan to shutter 66 stores in the first quarter of this year.
Through a spokeswoman, Namdar declined to comment on the store closing or the future of the shopping center to MLive-The Flint Journal.
“No one has come to talk to us about a casino,” township Supervisor Karyn Miller said at the board’s Jan. 21 meeting. “It’s gossip.”
Flint Township Economic Enhancement Director Tracey Tucker said the Macy’s announcement has fueled speculation about Genesee Valley, which already was operating with roughly half of its store sites closed and which will have just one anchor store — JCPenney — remaining after Macy’s departure.
“There’s been a flurry of news reports about the mall since Macy’s was reported as closing,” Tucker said. “There’s a lot of rumors about people (having) bought it … I want to put out there — those are rumors … We have not seen anything on paper (that shows) anybody buying the mall.”
Genesee Valley Center opened in 1970 and soon helped make the area around Linden and Miller roads Genesee County’s most popular retail destination.
By 2010, the 1.3-million-square-foot mall had grown from 55 stores to more than 130 but its ownership started changing in 2012, shifting from one limited liability company based in Atlanta to another in Maryland.
Namdar, headquartered in New York, purchased it in late 2019, a year after a Sears anchor store closed, and has overseen a further exodus of businesses and shoppers, as well as infrastructure issues.
In February of last year, the shopping center was shuttered for seven days because of recurring flooding issues after a water main break inside the mall’s distribution system.
Other breaks in 2022 and 2023 also closed the center to shoppers.
Township officials have complained of blight, security issues, and the condition of the mall’s parking lot in recent years.
They created a redevelopment vision plan for the property in 2019, projecting it could be converted into a mixed-use center with retail, housing, office space, and entertainment.
In April, the township met with Dan P. Dilmanian, chief operating officer of Namdar, to gauge his interest in selling the 73-acre property.
Dilmanian called the mall a prime candidate for redevelopment and said the company would sell it for $30 million.
Tucker told trustees on Jan. 21 she’s continued to work with community partners and the township’s Economic Development Corporation to identify potential investors.
“It is a privately owned company we are (working with),” she said. “We are not in control.”
Macy’s, which didn’t respond to a request for comment from MLive-The Flint Journal, owns the part of the mall that it occupies.
Namdar said last year that a Macy’s store closing at Genesee Valley would likely trigger an effort to coordinate a sublet or sale of the property “to enable our team to advance new leasing efforts.”
The company, which owns and manages more than 31 million square feet of commercial real estate throughout the country, has also been involved in projects to convert a few of its retail centers into multi-family housing.
Tucker said the mall’s Sears store, which also owns the space that it had occupied at Genesee Valley, recently received an offer that is pending to purchase its property.