After speculation surfaced last month that Newton's Atrium Mall would be soon be sold, a Needham-based firm has purchased the property with plans to convert it into medical offices. 

According to a report in the Boston Business Journal, the mall has been sold to an affiliate of Bulfinch Cos. Although a price was not disclosed, Bulfinch recently made a $46 million payment to the mall's owners, Simon Property Group, BBJ reported. 

Check out more details in the full BBJ report.

Bulfinch CEO Eric Schlager told BBJ that the firm plans to renovate the facility and use it as an office and medical center campus. The 300,000-square-foot property will be renamed the Atrium Center at Chestnut Hill. 

Construction at the site is set to begin this year and will be completed in 2013, the report said. 

According to a report in the Boston Herald, the new campus will have a new façade as well as retail shops in the ground floor. 

The Atrium Mall, which opened in 1989, has recently dropped to roughly 20 percent capacity, with ten retail stores left in the mall and just two restaurants. Last month, the mall lost one of its anchor eateries, Bertucci's. 

Since January, a slew of stores have exited the property including Gap, GapKids, Pottery Barn Kids and Creatoyivity. Some stores, including Ross-Simons, have left the Atrium for another Simon-owned property across the street, the Mall at Chestnut Hill. 

While the Atrium has continued to suffer, nearby retail properties are working on building out; construction at the Chestnut Hill Square development is ongoing and developers at the Chestnut Hill Shopping center recently started construction at the former Macy's site, which will house a theatre and new fitness center.