The Shoppes at Parma, the sprawling power center anchored by a Walmart Supercenter and Marc's, has sold for $85.2 million, with its new owner already eyeing the long-vacant former JCPenney box for redevelopment. Atlanta-based Hendon Properties acquired the 734,199-square-foot property from Allied Development, and company leaders say the deal reflects confidence in a shopping destination that has drawn Northeast Ohio crowds for nearly seven decades.
According to Cleveland.com, Hendon Properties formed a joint venture with Axiom Realty and Peaceable Street Capital to complete the purchase, and the center pulls in roughly 7.7 million visits a year. Lance Hagaman, Hendon's director of acquisitions, said the property represents exactly the type of investment his firm seeks. Allied Development had purchased the site for $81.6 million in November 2019 from PREP Property Group, when the center was 95 percent occupied, according to the Parma Observer — meaning the property appreciated by $3.6 million over roughly seven years.
A Long-Vacant Anchor Box Comes Into Focus
The biggest question hanging over the property is what happens to its largest empty space. JCPenney closed its store at the site in October 2020 following the company's bankruptcy filing, after operating there since 1980, per reporting cited by CBS News. Discount retailer Shoppers World later moved into the 81,675-square-foot box before closing it in April 2025, according to a Reddit thread cited in property research on the deadmalls community. Hendon Properties now plans to explore redevelopment of that former JCPenney space along with the contiguous Day Drive frontage, the company told Cleveland.com.
The center's anchor lineup otherwise remains a major draw. Anchor tenant sizes across the property include a 179,982-square-foot Walmart Supercenter, a 50,000-square-foot Dick's Sporting Goods, a 48,688-square-foot Marc's, and a 45,079-square-foot Burlington, according to data from Capdex. Marc's and the Walmart Supercenter serve as the center's dual grocery anchors, per the same account, and six outparcels round out the site with tenants including Crumbl Cookies and Panera Bread.
From 1956 Strip Plaza To Enclosed Mall To Power Center
The property's roots go back to September 27, 1956, when it opened as Parmatown Center, a 147,000-square-foot open-air strip plaza developed by RMS Investment Corp. and anchored by the May Company department store, according to the Encyclopedia of Cleveland History. The center later expanded into an enclosed mall during the 1960s, operating for decades as Parmatown Mall before the site entered receivership in 2012.
A $100 million multi-phase redevelopment starting in 2013 demolished parts of the enclosed interior and converted the property back into the open-air mixed-use power center known today as The Shoppes at Parma, per CBRE research. That transformation was backed in part by Tax Increment Financing bonds issued through the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority, alongside a $58 million original bank loan, according to a report from the Ohio Auditor of State. TIF proceeds continue to service debt incurred during that project, the audit noted.
City Hall Welcomes The New Ownership
Parma Mayor Tim DeGeeter said he plans to work with Axiom Realty's Adam Rosenzweig and the firm's leadership team going forward, and he described the shopping center as an important part of Parma's economic future. DeGeeter said he's proud of the progress made at the site over the years and called the original transformation from Parmatown Mall into The Shoppes at Parma a major investment in the city, per Cleveland.com's report. He added that the new owner's success is Parma's success too, and said he aims to support existing retailers while attracting new businesses to the campus.
Jerry Pascual, Hendon Properties' senior director of project administration and communications, said the company is ordering a deep clean of the center's exterior hardscapes — including sidewalks, awnings, and the overall building façade. Hendon also plans to improve landscaping and building lighting throughout the campus. The Hendon leasing team will partner with the Kevin Moss team at CBRE's Cleveland office and will promote the property both nationally and locally.
Why Investors Keep Betting On Parma
Location analytics from Placer.ai ranked The Shoppes at Parma as the number one most visited power center within a 15-mile radius and the sixth most visited shopping center statewide in 2022, placing it in the 99th percentile among Ohio retail properties, according to CBRE. Parma itself remains the largest suburb in Cuyahoga County and the seventh-most populous city in Ohio, with an estimated population of 78,581 as of 2025, per Wikipedia — even though the city's population peaked above 100,000 back in 1970 before gradually declining.
City officials have also backed smaller-scale redevelopment around the property's edges. The Parma Planning Commission previously approved municipal economic development grants to help clear an old office building for a Chick-fil-A outparcel and to establish an Ace Hardware store, according to the Parma Observer, with the grants offsetting site preparation costs. The moves fit a broader pattern of investment nearby: Hoodline has previously covered a $2 million restaurant revival in Parma, and Fast Eddie's relocation from The Shoppes at Parma to Tri City Center earlier this year.
For Hendon Properties, the acquisition marks its fifth retail purchase since the firm's Opportunity Fund launched in February 2024, expanding its portfolio to more than 1.3 million square feet, according to Hendon Properties. Previous fund acquisitions were located in Alabama and Georgia, meaning The Shoppes at Parma gives the fund its first foothold in Ohio. Hagaman's comments suggest the firm sees the center's mix of stable anchors and consistent traffic as a template it intends to replicate elsewhere in the region.
