The Future of Golden Triangle Mall

By Nancy Aguirre

DENTON – The Golden Triangle Mall has gone through a lot of up and downs over the years. The single-level shopping center, located in off I-35E South and Loop 288 in Denton, opened in Denton in 1980 and started off well in the city. But after other larger malls developed around the area, such as the Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville opening in 1989, things changed.

The mall had seen better days and different owners throughout the years, but their current ones seem to be the ones who may turn it all around for the better and the convenience of the Denton Community.

Recently, the 765,000 square-foot mall finalized its ownership with MGHerring Group and The Weitzman group’s Cencor Realty Services – both of which have big plans. Weitzman/Cencor, which leads in commercial management and development firm, manages the mall; MGHerring Group, which has developed over 30 major malls and shopping centers, joins them in the lease.

The two Dallas-based companies, which formed GTM Development Ltd., are working together to renovate the property.

The plans to remodel were actually approved earlier in August of this year by the City of Denton, after officials signed an economic development program grant of $9.5 million. But the plans took time to be finalized.

“This transaction has been moving forward since [September of last year]. Anytime you’re working with a regional shopping center, it takes a little bit of time to pull all the pieces together and get it closed. So it’s been in the works for about a year,” Matt Ludemann, General Manger of the Golden Triangle Mall, said.

Now that most plans are finalized, the big question is what all changes are the new owners going to do for the renovations, to turn the mall around.

Mr. Ludemann added, “[We would like to] just create a whole new environment for those who haven’t stepped foot in the center in a couple of years. They’ll come back and it’ll be a whole new feel – a whole new shopping experience for them.”

He hopes the new environment enhances not only the shoppers’ experience at the mall, but helps drives sales for their retailers.

News of the planned renovations was exciting to many Denton residents, since the Golden Triangle has not had major modifications in over ten years.

“I have always wondered what would [it] be like if more was done to it,” said former college student, Jeffrey Banks. “Hopefully it doesn’t take too long to build.”

Many other Denton residents, such as Mr. Banks, said they usually just travel elsewhere for their shopping needs. And not just to Lewisville, but even Grapevine and Dallas, instead of the convenient one in their city.

Christian Hernandez has lived in Denton for about eight years. Although he lives close by to the mall, he still tends to go to other malls as well. Mr. Hernandez said although he finds the mall to currently be a bit “boring,” so he looks forward to what will become of it.

“I think [the redevelopments] will be better – better for everyone [in Denton],” said Mr. Hernandez.

Although many people might not currently prefer the Golden Triangle over other shopping centers, like the Galleria or North Park Mall in Dallas, the mall still doing well with since its troubled years business.

Mr. Ludemann said sales have been slightly up in 2011. This could have something to do with Denton’s growing population. According to their website, the city of Denton has shown steady growth throughout the years.

Two weeks ago, for the weekend after Thanksgiving, the usually pretty vacant parking lot of the mall was nearly filled with cars for the Black Friday sales. Ludemann estimated about 2,500cars on site from people shopping and working. This is something Ludemann would like to see more of going into the new year.

Things were not always looking up for the mall. In July of 2010, the Golden Triangle Mall was foreclosed upon. After being saved by MGHerring and Cencor in September of 2010, plans just remained in the works until they fully acquisition the mall this year. Erica Marohnic, Senior

Planner of the Planning and Development department of the City of Denton, said since the plot had been built, there has not had any real change until after the foreclosure. So for the City of Denton, this is a big deal.

Even though plans of redevelopment were finalized recently in mid-November, the mall has already gone through a bit of a makeover – but nothing too drastic just yet. So far, the mall now has a new roof and air-conditioning units, as well as a completely remodeled Victoria’s Secret, which had its grand re-opening in October. The remodeling plan was made to go with the future new look of the enclosed shopping center.

But this is only the beginning.

According to their news release in November, they now have plans to add more retail options, new entryways and signage, a new food court, full-service restaurants, updated common areas and tenant storefronts, new flooring, lighting and landscaping, as well as much more. The mall already has over 90 national retailers, restaurants and specialty shops, with anchor tenants such as Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Sears, and Dillards. Sub-anchors are DSW, Ross Dress for Less, and Barnes & Noble. They plan to redevelop all shops to go with the new design of the mall.

There has even been talk about the mall adding an In-and-Out Burger, the popular drive-thru burger joint from California, to its new upcoming dining options. In-and-Out Burger has been a huge to success in Dallas since it opened in the summer. After the restaurant opened in Dallas, lines to dine inside and even for the drive thru all wrapped around the building for months. So one could only guess the success of it could bring to one being in Denton’s mall if this proves to be true.

Many other ideas are said to have been discussed, but not too much can be said for certain at this point.

For now, drawings of the new look for the makeover are just being finalized. Architects have been on site, making measurements for the project. The architect chosen for the project has been CMA.

Here is what a current rendering of the mall is expected to look like:

Renovations will start as early as next year and the mall will not shut down during the makeover process. Mr. Ludemann said he hopes it will not cause too much of an inconvenience for shoppers during any construction periods.

“We’ll try to maintain everything as normal as possible,” said Mr. Ludemann. Ludemann added that the main entry ways will be closed at times while reconstructing them, but they will re-route shoppers to not affect anything too much. “We’ll do our best to accommodate shoppers and not disrupt any traffics flows and store sales.”

The company’s press release states the grand reopening is expected for next fall. But Ludemann said this is a “pretty optimistic” way to think about all that has to be done for the mall.

“It’s really going to take a couple years to pull everything together. But I would say by holiday of 2013 and into 2014, you’ll have a whole new face to the property.”

Herbert D. Weitzman, Chairman/CEO of Weitzman/Cencor, said the property is “positions for a long-term success as the primary retail destination for the Denton market” with an already strong tenant base, according to GTM Development Ltd.’s press release. So things appear to be going the right way up for the mall.

Denton is a college town and having a nice, convenient mall with plenty of options for dining and shopping is sure to bring in more people. With college student’s budgets, saving the gas money from the 20-minute drive to Lewisville will be a lifesaver. Why take the trip when they will get to enjoy a new modern mall in their own town is sure to be a success.

The mall has many high hopes and when things go to plan, it seems it all can go well for the mall. So as for the future of the Golden Triangle Mall, after renovations are completed – it’s looking pretty bright.