Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, December 23, 1993 TAG: 9312230290
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SANDRA BROWN KELLY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Charles Kane said he also wants to make it easier for shoppers to get to the mall's upper level and hopes quickly to fill the free-standing perimeter building recently vacated by the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Kane is vice president and director of property management for J.M. Kane & Co. of Raleigh, N.C. The firm is headed by his brother, John Kane.
Some of the real estate leasing and management firm's principals are owners in Kane Tanglewood Inc., which this week completed purchase of Tanglewood. Kane said the company paid The Paramount Group of St. Louis "around $33 million" for the mall.
Tanglewood is assessed at $38 million by the county's real estate office. Municipal assessments of commercial real estate generally are computed on the income they produce, among other factors.
Kane told a gathering of tenants at a news conference Wednesday that there is no specific dollar amount attached to changes planned for Tanglewood, but that the company is willing "to spend what is needed" to make the mall a prestige community shopping facility.
He said the company spent about $3 million at Vernon Park Mall in Kinston, N.C., which he said is similar to Tanglewood.
The 750,000-square-foot Roanoke County property on Virginia 419 will be the company's third enclosed mall and its first venture into Virginia, where Kane said the company expects to grow.
Before tenants are added, Kane said, the 90 current tenants will be surveyed to find out if they want to change the size or location of their stores. He said he expects there will be "some moving around."
He said, however, that he doubts there will be much noticeable change to shoppers any time soon. The mall staff remains the same, with Judy Tullius as manager. Also, Rob Lauter, who formerly worked for Paramount and was responsible for leasing at Tanglewood, has joined the Kane company.
Lauter stressed that negotiating with prospective new tenants can be a long process. For example, an Applebee's restaurant opened this fall at Tanglewood, but Lauter had been negotiating for a full-service restaurant inside the mall since March 1990. Tanglewood Mall also has a food court with fast-food vendors.
Managers at the mall's two department stores, J.C. Penney Co. and Leggett, said Wednesday that they liked what Kane said.
Phil Boggs, Penney's manager, said a third department store would benefit the two already there by increasing customer traffic. Jack Dickerson, assistant manager at Leggett, said he would welcome an improvement in the mix of tenants, too.
Dickerson noted that the mall has lost several small upscale shops through the years, including E.I. Randle and Bonomo's.
There are several regional department store chains that have moved into Virginia or have locations near Western Virginia that might be prospects for a Roanoke center, Kane and Lauter said.
Among the department store companies they mentioned were Dillard's of Little Rock, Ark.; Proffitt's of Alcoa, Tenn. (near Knoxville); Stone & Thomas of Huntington, W.Va.; and Brody's of Greenville, N.C.
Dillard's does not currently operate in Virginia but is in several North Carolina markets and has eyed the Richmond and Tidewater markets.
by CNB