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New Owners Plan Improvements To Downtown Modesto Building

January 23, 2012 6:36 PM

Reporting Andrea Menniti

MODESTO (CBS13) — The directory says it all — plenty of open office space — but the hope is sprucing up the downtown Modesto landmark will attract new business.
From the inside the dated decor isn’t hard to miss. City Mall is starting to show its age. But standing tall in the heart of downtown, the once foreclosed building is getting another chance.
Dallas-based Iron Creek Ventures purchased the 60-year-old complex and vows to fix up the place.

Iron Creek hired Modesto’s NAI Benchmark to find new tenants.
“We’re tying to freshen up the building, do some cosmetic improvements that make it more leasable for office tenants,” Ryan Swehla of NAI Benchmark said. “If we have a new alternative that’s been freshened up right here on a prime corner in downtown Modesto and offered at competitive leases rates, we think it will be a boon for the downtown office market.”
City Mall is the former JC Penney building. When the retailer moved to Vintage Faire Mall, the building transformed into an office complex and did well until the economy tanked. Now, one in three offices is empty.
With vacant store fronts plaguing downtown, nearby small businesses welcome the change and hope more than just offices move in.
“If they spruce it up and get some retail in there, it could be great for us,” said nearby business owner Mitch Maisetti.
Cosmetic changes are expected to happen in the coming months.