Iowa City Marketplace going up for sale next month

IOWA CITY — The Iowa City Marketplace in southeast Iowa City is going up for sale next month.

The starting bid for the shopping center at 1600 Sycamore St. is $5 million. The auction will run from July 17 to July 19, according to the listing on RI Marketplace.

The shopping center is 81 percent occupied and has an annual income estimated at $1.84 million, according to the listing

Brookwood Capital Advisors, a Tennessee-based company that focuses on redeveloping shopping centers, bought the mall last July for just under $14.3 million. The company has focused on redeveloping the area over the last year, including adding Ollie’s Bargain Outlet as a new anchor tenant.

Ben Hamd, founder of Brookwood Capital Advisors, told The Gazette in an email the company is auctioning the shopping center after securing the Ollie’s lease and hopes a local buyer will be interested.

The company focuses on finding empty sites, leasing out the spaces and “setting the sites up for long-term success,” according to the group’s website

The shopping center, formerly known as Sycamore Mall, includes Planet Fitness, Joann Fabrics & Crafts, Marcus Theatres, Panera Bread, McDonald’s and Dollar Tree.

The 21-acre site, which was built in 1969, is valued at $13.5 million, according to the Iowa City Assessors Office.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is on track to open in the fall, Hamd said. The national discount retailer is opening in the space that formerly housed Von Maur and Lucky’s Market.

This will be the company’s first Iowa location.

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Ollie’s Bargain Outlet has more than 460 stores and is the country’s largest retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory, according to the company’s website. The outlet store sells items that include housewares, electronics, home improvement items, books and toys, with an inventory that constantly changes.

The lease with Ollie’s Bargain Outlet is for seven years, according to the listing.

Hamd previously told The Gazette the store will create at least 30 jobs, with the potential for employing up to 70. The store estimates it will bring in $10 million in revenue a year.

“That's money that will stay in Iowa City specifically,” Hamd previously said. “That’s jobs that will come, good-paying jobs. It's not just hourly workers. You're working with managers, regional people. Ollie's wants to do further stores in the state of Iowa.”

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com