NORTH ATTLEBOROUGH – The Emerald Square Mall has announced it is under new ownership.
In a Facebook post on Aug. 1, the mall posted that it had been sold to Summit Properties USA, a Manhattan-based company that owns 25 malls nationwide, as well as two hotels and numerous residential buildings in New York. Although the transaction has not officially announced by Summit, the 564,418-square-foot Emerald Square Mall at 999 South Washington St. is listed as one of its holdings on the Summit website.
“Emerald Square Mall is under new ownership – and we’re all about bringing back the fun, the local love, and the kind of shopping experience that makes you want to stay awhile. Let’s make something great together,” according to the mall’s Facebook post.
Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Representatives from Summit did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The mall and nearly 28 acres of land are appraised at $60 million by the town's tax assessor's office.
Emerald Square Mall has struggled in recent years. Sears, one of the mall’s original anchor tenants, pulled out in 2021 as part of a wave of nationwide chain closures, and mall ownership hasn’t attracted another tenant. And in late 2023, the mall had a 65% to 70% occupancy rate.
Town Manager Michael Borg told The Sun Chronicle that North Attleborough has been dealing with Summit for a while when it comes to the mall. He said the previous mall owner, Kohan Retail Investment Group, gave its majority shares to Summit Properties USA.
“If somebody bought Summit, that would be news to me, because we haven’t been told otherwise,” he said.
On May 28, the town's Zoning Board of Appeals approved The New England Public Theatre’s request for a special permit to convert the former American Eagle Outfitters space inside the mall into a performance theater.
The proposal, submitted by the nonprofit’s founding artistic director Jon Mael, calls for 150 nonfixed seats and a 16-by-20-foot stage. He also plans on converting the store’s former dressing room into a green room.
Mael stressed the theater would leave a minimal footprint and wouldn’t require major renovations while “breathing new life into a vacant space at the mall and likely provide a much-needed boost in business.”
