Mesquite's Big Town Property Now a FedEx Hub Changes Hands

A New Jersey real estate company has bought the site of the old Big Town Mall in Mesquite.The property at 5005 Samuell Boulevard was developed into a FedEx shipping hub after the vacant shopping mall was torn down in 2006.Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corp. of Freehold, N.J. paid $50.6 million for the 351,874 square foot distribution center.The property is leased for 15 years to FedEx for a ground package handling facility."Our new FedEx Ground facility is ideally situated eight miles east of downtown Dallas," Monmouth CEO Michael P. Landy said in a statement. "This large 65 acre parcel has a storied past as it was previously the site of the very first enclosed mall in Texas, Big Town Mall."The construction of this brand-new FedEx Ground distribution center here is indicative of the changing of the guard taking place in the world of consumer spending."Opened in 1959, Big Town was a booming regional shopping center until the construction of larger shopping malls sent the property into decline.The first enclosed shopping center of its kind in the state, Big Town originally had Sanger Bros., Montgomery Ward and JC Penney department stores.The single-level shopping mall closed in 2001 and sat vacant for several years before the property owners and the City of Mesquite moved to tear down the buildings.A year ago Dallas-based developer Scott Rohrman's 42 Real Estate LLC built the shipping hub for FedEx.FedEx is currently building another, similar size shopping center near Interstate 20 in Arlington.Monmouth Real Estate is a real estate investment trust with 17.3 million square feet of properties in 30 states.  Continue reading...