Celebrating Gigantic Creativity

Eiffel Tower, oil on canvas board, by Michael Hooper

A gigantic wave of creativity is a sweet release from pain.

I do not eat, I do not sleep, I do not stop to rest. I am so in love with this new project, this compelling image in my brain, which I'm trying to put on canvas. Each stroke is so liberating, so gigantic and so maddening.

Gigantic madness is a form of coping with pain

Pain is a universal language, we all understand it. I try to avoid it, yet pain always finds its way back.

Nobody wants to hear about pain, yet it is always there.

We should never say I'm sorry for our pain. Yet I still feel guilty for sharing it with someone because I'm afraid my story may bring them down too.

Escape away. Dive deep into that book. Start a painting. Create a legacy of color. Shapes and shadows, figures and trees, these are the symbols of my tender existence.

Without this gigantic madness, I might not survive. Pain would shut me down. Yet somehow I have this imagination that transcends my agony.

Don't cry in front of anyone. Cry alone. Perhaps God will take pity on you.

Big sky holds the clouds of darkness and light. There is sorrow and shadow, with a glimmer of hope.

Madness is out-of-control creativity, a continuous raging rant runs into a brick wall and falls asleep.

Burn burn burn. Run that brain as high and hot as you can. Hyperconsciousness drives my vision on the canvas.

I paint big swaths of purple and blue, green and black. I hope this creative wave never washes on shore, because all I have to go back to is a sea of pain.

So let's hear praise for gigantic madness, maybe there is another Van Gogh painting in there.

I risked everything to capture this image. The journey through hell on the way to heaven is my reward.

As my creative energy slips away, I fall back down into the pit. How long must I be here before I can climb out? 

When will I see my gigantic maddening friend again? Until then, I remember all of all those precious moments when I created the Sun, the Moon and the Stars.

--Michael Hooper

Dec. 30, 2021

Kohan Retail Investment Group Buys West Ridge Mall in Topeka

 

By Michael Hooper

Kohan Retail Investment Group, of Great Neck, N.Y., has agreed to purchase West Ridge Mall in Topeka.

Mike Kohan, founder and CEO of Kohan Retail Investment Group, confirmed that his group is buying West Ridge Mall for $6,025,000. 

Kohan, reached by telephone, said his group owns Town West Square in Wichita.

"We try our best to revitalize these properties," he said. "Sometimes they are beyond our capabilities but we always try to improve through leasing and development."

He said he will know more information about plans for West Ridge after closing on the property occurs on Jan. 14th 2022.

WIBW's Kimberly Donahue first reported yesterday that Kohan Retail Investment Group is the buyer of West Ridge Mall. Her source was Topeka city councilman Mike Lesser.

On its Web site, Kohan Retail Investment Group, says, "We will continue to invest in local communities by purchasing shopping centers and working with local employees to revitalize the malls and envision a new future for them. The retail landscape has changed, but many shopping malls have not. We believe the future of these large indoor spaces will be more of a hybrid of entertainment, food, and retail than the past model where retail reigned supreme. With the closing of many large anchor stores around the country in the past decade, those large spaces offer unique opportunities for venues of all different types: galas, expos, concerts, arcades, miniature golf, and others have found their homes at some of these spaces at our malls. This is a great time for businesses to consider large spaces that can be transformed into localized shops or venues at affordable prices."

Kohan Retail Investment Group owns hotels and malls around the country. The company's web site lists 52 malls owned by Kohan.

On Dec. 1, Kohan announced it had purchased Temple Mall in Temple, Texas, Triangle Town Center in Raleigh, N.C., and Montgomery Mall in North Wales, PA.

Future of West Ridge Mall Uncertain

By Michael Hooper

A Topeka commercial real estate professional says he did not bid on West Ridge Mall because he couldn't figure out an angle for the space.

Ken Schmanke, president and CEO at K1 Realty, says he could not figure out anything that would fit in the 411,000 sq ft that was sold on December 15th.

West Ridge Mall sold at auction for $6,025,000.

"This property is in escrow. Once escrow has been closed, the auction details will be made available upon request," according to Ten-X, who handled the auction.

Only 37% of the 411,000 sq ft is occupied at West Ridge Mall.

An income statement in October showed the property had $479,432 in net income for the first 10 months of the year. That would amount to around $575,000 annually.

If there is that kind of income, Schmanke expects the new owner will try to collect that income as long as they can.

Schmanke has worked in commercial real estate in Topeka since 1988. In 2020 he purchased Townsite Plaza and Townsite Tower for about $1.5 million. At the time occupancy in those downtown buildings was below 60%. Now there is about 80% occupancy. The Plaza has 90% occupancy and the Tower 70% occupancy.

"It has exceeded our expectations," Schmanke said. 

When asked how he purchased the property, he said, "The stars lined up, the price was right. I looked at it and decided somebody needs to do this and I thought I was a pretty good fit for it."

More than $10 million in total will be invested after all the renovations are completed on the Townsite properties. Schmanke painted the Tower building, which includes a line that looks like modern graffiti art.

Schmanke said that when it comes to old commercial real estate, you have to invest in capital improvements to attract new tenants.

Will the new mall owner take the steps necessary to make it a viable mall? he asked. Will they invest additional money into the property to attract new tenants? Or will they just bleed as much money as they can out of it?

Henry McClure, a commercial real estate broker with MCRE LLC, said West Ridge Mall was always overbuilt from the very beginning.

The mall was constructed in 1988 by Simon Property Group, but Simon sold the mall in 2014. By that time, the mall had declined substantially and many tenants left. Washington Prime was the new owner but eventually that group went bankrupt and West Ridge ended up in the hands of Wells Fargo Bank.

There are many possibilities for the future of West Ridge Mall.

McClure said the best buyer is the end user, somebody who will actually use the space. One of the challenges with the mall is all the separate ownership of various tracts of land. Sears, Dillard's and JCPenny and Furniture Mall of Kansas all own their own land and buildings. The total mall area is about 1 million square feet.

McClure said that it's possible for the new owner to work with the existing owners through a reciprocal easement agreement, a treaty between the owners.

Amazon has been purchasing malls and converting them into online distribution centers. That is a possibility for West Ridge, but McClure says there's probably a higher and greater use for it.

He said the entire campus could be converted into a senior center with medical facilities and housing but he doesn't see retail space growing at the mall.

Shopping habits have changed. People buy online. People drive up to a store and go through the front entrance and leave that way. 

Other options for the property is a convention center, entertainment center, with hotel and gaming areas. Or perhaps a medical campus with a new hospital, plus offices and leisure.

Certain malls are recycled and others are scrapped all together, McClure said. Some commercial space is easy to convert. McClure said he is working on renovating the former Gordmans store into a light industrial space on South Topeka Boulevard.

A search on the internet for mall redevelopment will bring up all kinds of stories about malls. The Landmark Mall in Alexandria, Va., is going to be torn down to make room for a new hospital and other development.

West Ridge Mall Sells for $6 million

By Michael Hooper

West Ridge Mall sold at auction today for about $6,025,000. The auction was scheduled to end at 11:30 a.m., but the operators of the auction extended the time in 3-minute increments before finalizing the sale shortly before noon.

The property for sale, West Ridge Mall, 1801 SW Wanamaker Road, Topeka, includes 411,000 ft of space; the seller is Wells Fargo. The buyer is unclear at this point. The mall is over 1 million square feet with some space such as Dillards owned separately.

After the close of the auction for West Ridge Mall, Ten-X, the auctioneer, said, "This property is in escrow. Once escrow has been closed, the auction details will be made available upon request."

The $6 million sale price is super cheap compared to the days when the mall was worth $45 million during the good times 15 years ago. Occupancy is 38.7%, vast cavernous space is entirely empty in this two-story mall.

It will be interesting to see what the new owner does with the property.

Marshall Barber, a Valley real estate agent in Topeka, said he does not see a path forward with traditional mall retailing filling up the space. If the city wants retail there it would probably be best to use a dominant retailer like a Costco, Ikea or Cabela's or Bass Pro Shop or Nebraska Furniture Mart. A major retailer like that might work in that space. Those types of retailers are doing very well in Johnson County, Barber said.

Perhaps the mall could be used for large-scale entertainment venues, Barber said.

Another option for the space is a logistics center.

Logistics centers act as transportation hubs for the movement of freight.

Or another option, I believe, is turn it into a server farm for an Amazon or Google.

Barber attended the sheriff sale when Wells Fargo bought the property for about $27 million.

David Tangeman said net income for the property shows $479,432 net income for 10 months, he estimates annual net income $575,000 annually. That equates to a 9.55% Cap Rate (net income divided by sale price). That cap rate is pretty good in the commercial real estate market. It's reasonable for a property this old to have a higher cap rate, he said.

"Given that there is so much upside potential, this is a really good price," Tangeman said. "If they can fill it up, they could make a ton of money on this. The challenge is you got to get it back to 80% occupancy. Or find other uses, event space, or office space, or warehouse. If they can increase the use, they can increase the value."