Bank to take over Fashion Square Mall today
The bank that financed a mortgage on Fashion Square Mall will take over operation of the retail property today and intends to keep running it as a mall, according to a bankruptcy attorney for the mall’s current owner.
An agreement to hand the mall over to the lender, The Bancorp of Wilmington, Del., was approved by a judge Tuesday, said Scott Shuker, attorney for the mall’s company owner Scott Fish.
“They’re going to meet with the employees out there tomorrow,” Shuker said. “They said in court they would keep it running.”
The mall is about halfway through a 99-year lease on the property, he said, from the original Maguire family that owned large properties in the area. He said the Macy’s store has 40 years remaining on its lease.
Fish’s company, a subsidiary of UP Development, was targeted in a foreclosure in early January by The Bancorp. Fish sued the bank in turn, alleging it had been lying to tenants about the future of the property.
Handing the mall back to the bank will resolve the foreclosure and Fish’s countersuit.
The bank has told the court it will hire a management company to run the mall, but it has declined to comment publicly so far.
The bank alleged that UP “grossly mismanaged” the mall, and that UP Development’s operation has accounting problems, besides defaulting on its loan.
Fish has agreed to make a payment, not disclosed publicly, to the bank to settle the dispute. In exchange, the bank is allowing him to move forward on a deal with Trammell Crow next to the mall. Fish’s company will sell the property to Trammell Crow, which intends to develop a $50 million apartment complex called the Alexan at Audubon.
The apartments would border the mall on its northeast side, at the southeast corner of Maguire Boulevard and McCullough Avenue.
In 2013, UP bought about 80 acres, including the aging mall and surrounding property. That includes the property that houses J.C. Penney, Dillard’s and Macy’s. An investment firm owns the former Sears, Sears Auto Center and surrounding parking lot.
The Sears building will be torn down to make way for a new Orchard Supply Hardware and Floor & Decor. Since buying the mall, UP has seen a Dick’s Sporting Goods open.
Elsewhere in Central Florida, UP has been busy. The City of Eatonville approved a $20 million deal last month for UP to buy 111.5 acres for retail and residential use — under a completely separate affiliated company.
UP is working to develop another 23 acres near Mall at Millenia, which includes space for two new luxury-car dealerships.
There’s no lack of interest in the property around Fashion Square. A South Florida developer, Grover Corlew, just paid $50 million for the adjacent Orlando Central Office Park that includes 21 buildings.