MKiezi Investments has acquired the landmark Oakland Mall on 14 Mile Road in Troy, Michigan, from CenterCal Properties. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
MKiezi Founder and President Mario Kiezi made the announcement.
“I spent a great deal of time during my early childhood years at Oakland Mall shadowing my family in their store, Antoine’s Ice Cream, where I observed and learned the basic elements of business. I roamed the mall and caught an eye for retail at the young age of 10,” said Kiezi. “The location is tremendous with an outstanding community of tenants that we plan to work with and add to with our focus on family friendly entertainment, restaurants and an emphasis on Maker’s Culture.”
The Oakland Mall opened in 1968 as an enclosed super-regional property. The mall’s multi-tenant space is complemented by department stores Macy’s and J.C. Penney and the former Sears store space, which MKiezi Investments acquired last year. In total, the shopping center includes approximately 1.5 million square feet of space.
In addition to Macy’s and J.C. Penney, Oakland Mall anchor retailers include Dick’s Sporting Goods and At Home. Hobby Lobby is scheduled to open later this year in a portion of the former Sears space and Longhorn Steakhouse will replace the former Logan’s Roadhouse at the southeast corner of the property.
MKiezi Investments plans property improvements to the Oakland Mall including, in the short-term, freshening in areas most in need such as mall entrances, restrooms and lighting. Redevelopment of the former Sears store is also already underway.
In addition to Kiezi, the MKiezi Investments development team includes partner and local real estate professional Jack Berke; architect and planner Ron Loch, with over 30 years of retail planning and mall design experience; and John Eggert, with over 20 years of experience as a real estate development and asset management executive in the shopping mall industry.
Kiezi and his development team are working with GH+A design studios, based in Detroit and Montreal, to envision future possibilities for the Oakland Mall site. This includes creating a comprehensive vision plan to transform the feel of the mall over time, including future implementation of placemaking concepts and other ideas such as brick and click retail, family entertainment and dining, ghost kitchens, advanced retail distribution and complementary land uses.
Using social media platforms such as TikTok to engage with the community, we encourage all to share ideas on what they’d like to see us do and we will conduct polls to help guide our decision making.”