CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The owner of the Elkview Crossings Mall declared bankruptcy Tuesday afternoon, 15 minutes before a public auction for the property was scheduled to take place outside the Kanawha County Courthouse.
Plaza owner Bill Abruzzino of Tara Retail Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in West Virginia’s Northern District.
That means it will take a lot longer to construct a new culvert bridge to the mall. The bridge was washed away in the June 23 flood.
Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper said he predicted this would happen. He criticized the move by the company following the announcement.
“To delay this, to wait to 15 minutes before the auction, I think is despicable,” Carper said.
MORE Read the bankruptcy filing for Crossings Mall
Last month, a federal judge put the property into receivership in order to get the bridge rebuilt. The judge also ordered U.S. Bank, the property mortgage holder, to pay for the bridge. The bank holds a $13 million note on the property.
Abruzzino and U.S. Bank could not reach a settlement on who should pay for the bridge, so the judge ordered the bank to handle the costs.
The company’s estimated assets range between $10 million and $50 million, according to bankruptcy documents.
Since the June flood, more than 500 plaza employees have lost their jobs and hundreds more cannot get to the mall for shopping needs. The plaza has been closed since the the bridge collapsed.
“This is like a bad divorce between the community and the owners of the mall. It’s wrong and we intend to what we can to get the bridge built anyway,” Carper said.
The company should have filed bankruptcy earlier, Carper said.
“This is gamesmanship. Do they have a right to do it? Yes. But all they’re doing is further causing damage to the Elk Community. They don’t have schools, they don’t have a place to shop. It’s just wrong,” he said.
The matter will go before a bankruptcy judge. Carper said they plan to work with the owners.
“We already prepared a letter expressing to the bankruptcy court, anticipating this would happen, how much damage they are causing to the citizens of this area,” Carper said.
The commission estimates the construction of a new bridge could cost nearly $1 million.
The Crossings Plaza is located just off of Interstate 79 about 12 miles north of Charleston.