Valley West Mall tenant alleges he was denied more space due to race
A business owner at Valley West Mall who said he was denied more space to expand because of his race is seeking to sue the mall’s interim management company.
Suruosh Alehy, who originally is from Iran, has owned and operated Five Star Direct Discount in Valley West Mall since 2020. He alleges in his complaint that mall management said he was not allowed to rent more space for new businesses because they “did not wish to attract the ‘sort of people’ which frequented (the) Plaintiffs’ business, including minority race individuals.”
Alehy has made a request to the judge overseeing Valley West Mall’s foreclosure case to file the lawsuit against receiver Krista Freitag, owner of E3 Realty Advisors, which has acted as the mall’s receiver since June 2022. Freitag took over after U.S. Bank filed a foreclosure action against the West Des Moines mall, alleging it failed to make payments on a $50 million loan. Freitag then hired Chicago-based Spinoso Management Group to handle operations for the property.
Alehy alleges discrimination, retaliation, negligence and nuisance and, should the judge approve filing the lawsuit, demands a jury trial. Alehy’s lawyer, Ben Bergmann, said in a statement to the Des Moines Register: “We are thankful for the opportunity to represent a fellow Iowan in this straight-forward legal matter.”
Freitag and Matthew Laughlin, her lawyer, did not respond to requests for comment from the Register.
According to his filing, Alehy in early 2023 had requested to rent two storefronts in the mall in addition to the one that houses his store, Five Star Direct Discount. Shortly after management allegedly denied his request, a white tenant was allowed to use the same space for storage rent-free.
Alehy requested to rent the space again in October after the tenant left that location, but management “decided to grant this same location to a white proprietor in priority over (the) Plaintiff.”
Alehy filed a formal complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission on June 19. The commission issued a probable cause finding in favor of Alehy, according to court documents.
But instead of renting the space to Alehy, he alleges management retaliated against him, experiencing increased hostility and harassment from mall staff, complaints against Alehy for “the purpose of punishing him,” and denial of critical services and property protection.
As a result, Alehy faced at least one break-in at his store, the court filing says.
The receiver threatened to break Alehy’s lease based “on a number of extraordinarily minor lease infractions,” according to the document, though white business owners “flouted these same contract terms with no repercussions or public harassment.” The whiteowned businesses with the same contract terms continued to have no repercussions as of Jan. 24, the document alleges.
In addition to break-ins at Alehy’s store, he alleges management has not fixed a sewage issue near his store, leading to “noxious fumes” in his store and in the area.
“The offensive and noxious reek coming from multiple locations surrounding (the) Plaintiff’s store continued to drastically impact (the) Plaintiff’s physical health, as well as his monthly sales totals,” the court document says.
As of Monday, the judge has not ruled on the request filed Jan. 31.