It's the heart of the retail holiday season, and The Ticker is unwrapping some news from Traverse City's three area shopping centers.

Buffalo Ridge Center
The former Horizon Outlet Mall is a different place these days, its north end that previously housed Old Navy, Dance Arts Academy, and other shops now almost completely razed. Demolition over the last several weeks was led by Team Elmer's with support from Burdco, according to Property Manager Joe Sarafa.

It was almost twelve months ago that you read first in The Ticker that a 14-screen multiplex was headed to the center. The theater was set to replace the existing 10-screen Carmike Cinemas theaters on the south end of the outlet mall. The project received full Garfield Township approval a few months back.

Now we've learned the theatre will boast the IMAX brand. Once complete, it will be the first IMAX screen north of Grand Rapids. The theatre had been slated to have a "BigD” screen, Carmike’s own version of IMAX. But Sarafa confirms that Carmike was able to secure the IMAX license for the location.

Next comes construction. Sarafa expects the concrete pad to be complete by end of next week and all permits pulled by the end of December. The start of construction will be weather dependent and could begin as early as January or as late as April; it will take twelve months to have ready for Carmike to do their final inside work, putting an opening likely in the first quarter of 2016.

Many -- but not all -- contractors for the 60,000 square foot project have been identified, including Twin Shores (Iowa-based general contractor chosen by Carmike), and local companies Mansfield Land Use Consultants (engineering), Team Elmer's and Burdco (demolition and site work), and Hallmark Construction (concrete).

Cherryland Center
Flint developer V. Kumar Vemulapalli, owner of Durga LLC, purchased the mall at South Airport and Garfield in an online auction in 2013. Since then, the center has lost some tenants but remains approximately 60 percent occupied, according to Julius Wilson, who handles management and leasing for the mall.

Wilson also says Vemulapalli "has earmarked $1 million for improvements" in 2015, including the addition of a new digital sign that has been proposed to Garfield Township.

He also says "three or four new tenants" are close to being finalized.

Grand Traverse Mall
According to public filings by Grand Traverse Mall owner Rouse Properties, the mall is getting healthier. As of June 30, the mall was 81.7 percent occupied; as of September 30, occupancy had climbed to 87.1

Contacts at Rouse Properties did not return several calls for any updates or comment.