Epic has made the decision to move its Cary North Carolina headquarters to a massive mall.
The mall in question is the Cary Towne Center and it is a whopping 87-acres of space that Epic has acquired for their headquarters.
Epic Games will reportedly be moving into the mall by 2024. They have expressed plans to create both office buildings and recreational spaces for long-term use.
The company will start development on their new Headquarters later this year, but in the meantime, they will remain at their current location in Crossroad Boulevard, where they have been for more than 20 years.
The mayor of Cary Harold Weinbrecht issued a statement saying that they are “extremely proud that Epic has chosen to call Cary home for their new global headquarters, and we greatly appreciate the company’s recognition of Cary’s existing assets as well as the unlimited potential of the area for their growing business”.
The deal Epic struck for the mall was to the tune of $95 Million for 980 000 square feet of space. They purchased the mall from Turnbridge Equities and Denali Properties, which bought the mall in January 2019 as part of a distressed sale after the mall lost three of its anchor tenants.
There are apparently only a few stores still open in the mall and the rest of it has been blocked off. The previous owners purchased it for $31million and proceeded to get the Cary Town Council to approve its rezoning which would permit office use, hotel rooms, and multi-family housing in addition to commercial space.
Epic said it will work with the Town of Cary on a $ 193 million sports and recreation center that had been planned for the site. Epic says that the campus will include office buildings and recreational spaces.
Epic’s plans are still in their early stages but they did divulge that they are planning to demolish some of the existing structures on site
This is not a new concept though as old malls have become a popular buy for large businesses. WeWork and Google have also converted abandoned malls to office space and headquarters.
Epic Games has been in the town of Cary North Carolina since 1999 and they have reportedly got over 2,200 employees in their global workforce.
Epic was planning on expanding its existing premises in Cary, but it seems these plans have been overshadowed by this colossal new “Cary Towne Center” project.