Retail real estate company Centennial said Wednesday it has finalized its deal to purchase the Annapolis Mall in Anne Arundel County.

The Texas company is partnering with Sandeep Mathrani, founder of Atlas Hill RE and vice chairman of Brookfield Properties, to acquire the shopping mall. Terms of the sale were not released.

“Our short-term focus will be on enhancing the tenant mix through careful remerchandising efforts that will elevate the shopping experience,” Centennial founder and CEO Steven Levin said in a statement. “Long term, the property presents a unique opportunity to densify the site with complementary mixed uses that would benefit from retail as the integrated amenity.”

In addition to new ownership, the mall will have two new tenants by the end of 2025 — DICK’S House of Sport, a new experiential retail concept from DICK’S Sporting Goods, and Dave & Buster’s, a national food and entertainment restaurant.

Waterfall Asset Management and Lincoln Property Company are also partners in the deal.

Centennial, a Dallas-based company, operates 23 million square feet of mixed-use properties across 17 states. It acquired Westfield Valencia Town Center in California in September 2023.

The sale comes amid changes in anchor tenants in recent years and a paused lease negotiation with New Village Academy, a charter school operator. The school was set to open this fall with 150 students but was delayed until 2025.

New Village Principal Romey Pittman said the lease is still in active discussion and looks positive. “Centennial has been wonderful to work with so far,” she said.

As sales declined during the COVID-19 pandemic, major retailers and department stores around the country announced the closure of more than ten thousand stores. The Annapolis Mall, formerly known as Westfield Annapolis, was no exception. The mall’s anchor tenants Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Sears and Bow Tie Cinemas left the mall between 2018 and 2022.

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, which owns Westfield malls nationally, announced in 2022 that it would be offloading several malls from its portfolio of properties, including its property in Annapolis.

New Village Academy eyed the space left empty by Lord & Taylor and then the former home of Nordstrom in a change of plans. It could not move forward after the mall’s owner, Westfield/URW, stopped negotiations due to the then-potential sale of the mall.

The construction of new apartments is wrapping up a mile from the mall, adding more than 750 apartments across two buildings. And 750 more townhouses, apartments and condos are in different stages of planning.

Westfield Annapolis opened in 1980 with Montgomery Ward, a department store chain, as its main anchor tenant. JCPenney joined the shopping center in 1983 after an expansion of the mall. When a second level was added, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, Sears and Macy’s moved in during the following decades.

Crate & Barrel, Forever 21, Apple Store, The Container Store and AMC Theatres are the mall’s current anchor tenants. JCPenney, however, is set to close its doors in 2025.

The department store will be replaced by Hobby Lobby, Grocery Outlet and Onelife Fitness. Over 7,000 square feet of retail space is still available.