Since talk began of Warren County government purchasing Three Star Mall a little over one year ago, there has been much discussion and strong opinions bandied about in the community and online. Much of it comes from people who yearn for a yesteryear of prosperous malls which haven’t existed for decades. 

Others seem to believe, without the county’s involvement, the mall could have suddenly blossomed with new businesses under the continued management of an owner who showed neither the desire or capability to recruit new businesses as the building continued to fall into disrepair with little attempt to curtail it.

Still others question why, with a $9.1 million grant to build a brand new health department, the county would use that money to buy a deteriorating over-40-year-old building.

Recently I sat down with Warren County Executive Terry Bell and Warren County Chief of Staff Jason Hillis for an in-depth discussion on the county’s reasoning for purchasing the property and the plans for it moving forward.

Terry and Jason have certainly heard the public's questions and wanted to address them. "I think some of the confusion is about why did we do this? Why on earth would Warren County government buy the mall?" Jason said. The county's purchase of the mall was born out of a need for a new health department. 

"It goes back to 2020 when the announcement was made about the Tennessee CARES Act and that Warren County, with the third oldest health department building, would be one of the few to get a grant for a new building," Jason said. The grant didn't come without restrictions, however, and those restrictions limited the county's choices. 

Jason explained, "$9.1 million was allocated for Warren County to have a new health department. This was at the beginning stages of full-on COVID. Since then, when Terry came into office, no action had been taken. No studies had been done. And the price for commercial space had increased and we didn't have the land. One of the stipulations by the state is it had to be within one mile of the current health department."

Building a new department on the current site was not an option because of the need for a bigger building and ample parking. "The current health department is 12,000 square feet. The new building had to be 25,000. So if we tore down the old building and built in that footprint, parking would have been all gone. Being within one mile only left us with two or three options and most of them didn't have the parking space we needed. One of them was the old Crouch Motors property which was for sale, commercial property and within a mile, but again, by the time we put the building in there would be no room for parking," Jason said. 

This dilemma led the county to reach out to the owner of Three Star Mall to inquire about buying the JCPenney space. The mall owner wasn't interested in that unless the county bought everything from JCPenney all the way down to Roses. A few rounds of negotiations led to a purchase price of $6.4 million for the 16.5 acres and the building. Some additional funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) was also used for the purchase.

Terry explained, "We made it in two purchases. The grant money can only be used for the health department. So we deeded out the JCPenney building and then bought the rest of the mall with ARP funds. That gives us somewhere around $5 million left to renovate the JCPenney building to put the health department in," Terry said. 

Jason pointed out the benefits of making the purchase using grant money. "It doesn't cost the tax payer a dime as far as property tax. Of course all grant dollars are also tax dollars but I want folks to understand these are all competitive situations. If we don't get the grant, somebody else will.  That money does not come back into everyone's pockets. The money has been allocated by the federal or state government. It's going to go somewhere whether we get it or not."

With the purchase, which was finalized near the end of July 2023, the county now has 177,000 square feet under one roof and work has begun to give the mall a much-needed renovation. The plan is for the health department to occupy the old JCPenney space. Entrance to the health department from the mall will be cut off and will be solely from the outside door. Plans for the health department are currently being drawn up and the county hopes to reveal those plans within the next three months. 

Additionally, the  McMinnville Warren County Senior Center and Upper Cumberland Human Resource Agency (UCHRA) will both be housed within the space which formerly held Goody's. "Right now, the senior center has a lease and they are cleaning and construction work is beginning in that space. Hopefully, by mid-summer they'll be able to move the senior center to the mall," Terry said. 

The McMinnville Warren County Senior Center is a non-profit organization which gets funding from the city and county as well as federal dollars. The center also runs a thrift store which brings in approximately $75,000 per year. With over 1,500 members and a current building which only holds 174 people, the senior center was in need of a larger location. Its spot in the mall will triple its current space.

The senior center signed a 20-year lease and will be paying the county $15,000 annually for its new space. The senior center owns its current building and has listed it for sale in hopes of using proceeds from the sale to help pay for the renovations to the old Goody's location as well as rent, as the county is not paying for the renovations for the center's new space.

Joining the senior center in the 21,000-square-feet Goody's space is the UCHRA, which will take 4,500 square feet. The UCHRA is looking to establish a hub in Warren County and will be much more equipped to do so with the new space. The UCHRA will also bring out-of-town travelers to the mall, resulting in more potential shoppers for mall tenants.

The county has had the keys to the mall for about eight months now, but transforming the  43-year-old building will not be a quick process. Work is underway but not always immediately apparent. Notably, the work on the roof is nearly complete. 

"For the first time in maybe five years, there aren't buckets sitting out there when it rains," Terry said. "We're putting in handicapped door closures and we have put in a security system which gives us surveillance capabilities."

Since the purchase and despite the county's renovation efforts, the mall has continued to suffer from the effects of years of neglect from the previous owners. A pair of flooding incidents resulting from roof problems before the county's roof repairs were complete accelerated decisions from two stores to leave the mall. 

"It's unfortunate that Shoe Sensation and Cato corporate decided to close. We really hated that and did everything we could. We offered to renovate the Cato store and work with them on some rent issues if they would stay. Corporate chose not to. They are closing stores all over the country. It's not like they just picked Warren County. We have the Cato space completely repaired and ready to go and we're in the process of doing the same thing in Shoe Sensation if anyone is looking for a space to rent," Terry said.

While the health department, senior center and UCHRA will be moving in, the county does not want the mall to turn into solely a place for government offices. "We are aggressively working to try to get businesses in there. We want stores to bring traffic to the mall. That was the intention when the county purchased it - to bring up the foot traffic for the businesses there," Terry said.

Jason added the desire to keep existing businesses and attract new ones is only a natural one as the county funds improvements. "A lot of people said, 'they're going to kick everybody out and put all government stuff in there,' We don't want that. The property is dilapidated as everyone knows. The people who rent from us, that money helps us pay for the roof, the security system, the parking lot and goes right back into the property which makes the property more attractive for those businesses," Jason said.

Cosmetic changes to improve the appearance of the mall are part of the plan as well. One of the first makeover items on deck, in addition to power washing the building,  is a new sign to replace the tattered one currently on Sparta Street.  "We got a ThreeStar grant to put in a digital sign. That will happen this year. We'll be rolling things that are happening at the health department or for any of the people renting from us on the sign. It will be informational for the whole county," Terry said.

For those who question a government entity being involved with retail businesses, Jason compares the county's purchase of the mall to the City of McMinnville's renovation of Main Street in the attempt to bring more business to the downtown area. "It's really a partnership between retail and government. This mall project is basically the same thing, it's just under a roof," Jason said.

Terry pointed out the road project which caused much confusion and consternation to mall visitors for months was a state project which the county had nothing to do with. "That was happening before we purchased the mall," he said. 

Another sore point for mall visitors is the parking lot which is pock-marked with pot holes and barely visible parking lines. The parking lot will be addressed but it may be one of the last things taken care of so as not to damage it with the heavy equipment that will be used to make the other renovations to the mall. There are also plans for nice, public bathrooms, which is something long needed at the mall.

While start and end dates for individual projects in the mall are in flux, one thing which is set in stone is the end date of the health department project. "We have to be done by June 2026. Bills have to be paid, checks have to be written and we have to occupy it by then due to the grant," Jason said. 

I'd like to thank Terry and Jason for taking the time to explain the county's reasoning and plans to Business Pulse readers. They gave me far more information than I have room to present on a single page, but hopefully this will answer some of the many questions the community has been asking. 

Until next week,

same biz day,

same biz page

Once again, thanks for reading Business Pulse and thanks to Ben Lomand Connect for sponsoring the page.