CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Town Center Mall was sold Thursday during a public auction for $35 million.
The winning bid, according to Charleston Mayor Amy Goodwin, came from U.S. Bank Association, the group that has held the loan note on the facility.
The former mall owners defaulted on a $93 million loan in late 2017 and the banking group filed a lawsuit to put the mall into receivership. Kanawha County Circuit Judge Joanna Tabit signed off on an agreement last January appointing CBRE Group to handle the day-to-day operations of the mall while it remained in receivership.
Matthew Kingery, a lawyer with Charleston-based law firm Dinsmore and Shohl, placed the winning bid Thursday but he did not reveal his client. Goodwin confirmed the buyer to several media outlets Thursday afternoon.
“I am pleased this important step has been completed for the Charleston Town Center Mall property. Our team will continue to actively monitor the situation and stand ready to work with the purchasers to maintain our existing stores, shops, and restaurants and explore new tourism opportunities.
“We have been in contact with U.S. Bank National Association representatives to set up meetings to discuss next steps. We will work closely with them to provide any assistance necessary to ensure a vibrant future for the entire city.”
Charleston Urban Renewal Authority (CURA) Executive Director Ron Butlin said Wednesday the likely bidder would be the banking group. He told MetroNews Thursday the price of the sale doesn’t matter much to anyone because it is “very likely” the new owner will look for a buyer for the property itself at some point in the future.
“What really matters is what they want to do to the mall and what they want to get for the mall when they sell it to a long-term investor developer,” he said. “Now they legally can do whatever they want with the mall including marketing it for sale to someone else.”
CURA owns the land underneath the mall’s parking garage. Since being in receivership, CURA has not received its lease payments. Butlin called Thursday’s auction a good step.
“Now we have somebody to talk to about the agreements between the mall and the garages,” he said.
The auction lasted around 30 minutes but once the bidding started, it only took about a handful of seconds for it to be sold. The $35 million winner was the second bid and someone bid $1.
The 36-year old mall has been in financial hardship for some time and received bad news earlier this week when Macy’s announced it would be closing its location sometime this spring. The closing of Macy’s leaves JC Penney as the lone anchor store Town Center.
Jeff Jenkins contributed to this story.