Huntsville’s Madison Square Mall, once a booming retail hub for Limestone and Madison County residents, has been sold for $5 million, according to published media reports.

The sale of the property became public when the mall’s owner, Chattanooga, Tennessee-based CBL & Associates Properties Inc., announced the news via a first-quarter earnings report.

Published media reports indicate the mall was purchased by RCP Companies, a developer with several ongoing projects in Huntsville.

“CBL & Associates has been a great corporate and community partner with the city through the years,” said Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle in a statement regarding the sale of the mall. “After 30 years of owning Madison Square Mall, and having established the first major retail center west of the city’s central core, CBL recognized the public need for a redevelopment of this property.”

Battle added the city appreciated the opportunity to work with CBL through the transition, and that the city is committed to working with the new owners to return the property to a “vibrant economic hub.”

Those who regularly shop at Madison Square Mall would be hard-pressed to argue with the fact the mall hasn’t been “vibrant” in many years.

Recent reviews of the mall posted travel website Trip Advisor are less than favorable, with review headlines like “Declining mall,” “Hoping for renovations” and “A very sad mall.”

“Each time I go to the Madison Square Mall, I wonder how much longer will it be around,” said one reviewer. “There is only a few places to eat at the food court. Each time I go it seems like another store has left.”

In its 2014 annual report, real estate firm Graham & Co. noted there was 165,000 square feet of space available in the mall, and that the University Drive corridor had experienced a 16.57 percent increase in retail vacancies in 2013. The report noted the vacancy would only grow when Belk exited the mall in favor of new space at Bridge Street. The new Belk location opened in October.

Following a trend

The decline of the indoor mall in favor of outdoor centers like Bridge Street in Huntsville or the Shoppes of Madison on U.S. 72 follows a national trend.

A report published in the Jan. 5 edition of The New York Times equates the decline of the indoor mall to a continued trend in income inequality. While high-end malls are thriving, the report said, mall anchors like Sears and JC Penney — which historically catered to middle-class shoppers — are faltering and taking middle-class malls with them.