Epic Games, the video game giant in a legal battle with Apple, is turning a defunct mall into a new headquarters - see inside
Epic Games spent $95 million on a North Carolina mall that will become its new headquarters.
Epic, the maker of "Fortnite," is involved in a major lawsuit with Apple in California.
Epic plans to turn the mall into a multimillion-square-foot complex.
Epic Games, the creators of the popular game "Fortnite," bought a failed mall in North Carolina for $95 million that will eventually become its new headquarters.
The gaming giant closed on the deal on December 31, Daniel Geiger at Insider first reported. Epic plans to create a multimillion-square-foot headquarters, with hopes to open it by 2024.
The purchase comes after a wild year for Epic, which sparked a debate in the tech world around app-store policies when the company offered an in-game payment system for "Fortnite" that bypassed the usual app-store fees. Apple and Google both subsequently pulled the game from their stores, and now Epic and Apple are battling it out in a California courtroom.
Here's the mall that Epic spent $95 million on.
Cary Towne Center encompasses 980,000 square feet of space on 87 acres.
Source: Epic
The mall was a victim of the similar forces tanking malls across the country: anchor tenant JC Penney closed, and within months Sears and Macy's followed.
Source: Business Insider
Developers Turnbridge Equities and Denali Properties bought the property in January 2019 from mall chain CBL & Associates, which filed for bankruptcy in November 2020.
Source: Business Insider
At the time developers bought the mall from CBL, it was at only 65% occupancy.
Source: WSJ
When they purchased it, developers told WSJ that they planned to turn the mall into a mixed-use space with offices and residential areas.
Source: WSJ
Developers paid about $40 million for the property in 2019, less than half of what Epic paid two years later.
Source: Business Insider
"It's minutes from downtown Raleigh, it's close to the airport, and it's one of the only critical masses of land ready to build on in one of the fastest-growing markets in the country," Jason Davis, a managing director at Turnbridge, told Business Insider.
The new headquarters will likely be much larger than Epic's current 250,000 square foot office, also in Cary, North Carolina.
The facilities will include both office buildings and recreational spaces. "We are committed to working with the Town of Cary to explore ways some of this property might be used by the community," Epic spokeswoman Elka Looks told Insider while declining to share details about the plans and size of the future headquarters.
Read the original article on Business Insider
