By Tim Funk, Steve Harrison and Théoden Janes
Staff Reports

The remaining tenants at beleaguered Eastland Mall in Charlotte have been told to get out by June 30 by the landlord, who says that the mall is headed for closure.

A letter hand-delivered to tenants Friday said that the mall's owners had hit a dead end in their longtime efforts to find a buyer to operate or redevelop the mall, and that the property was now in foreclosure.

"It is understood," said the letter from Miami Beach-based LNR Partners, a lender that took over principal ownership of the mall last fall, "that the lender or any other party that acquires title to Eastland Mall at foreclosure will close the mall."

The letter also said: "We regret that this action is necessary, but given the present economic environment, we have no other option."

A regional showplace when it opened in 1975, with a skating rink and the first food court in the state, Eastland Mall has struggled for more than a decade to remain viable as it lost customers to other malls, including Concord Mills and Northlake. It's also been hurt by the exodus of its anchor stores: Belk, Dillard's, J.C.Penney and Sears.

In February, Burlington Coat Factory - the lone remaining anchor - announced it was closing its store at the end of March.

The City of Charlotte had considered buying the entire 90-acre site - the mall itself measures 1.1 million square feet - in hopes of revitalizing east Charlotte. City staffers proposed demolishing the mall and, in its place, building a new "town center" - a walkable community with homes, stores and offices. Other ideas included placing a YMCA or a VA hospital at the site.

The staffers last year negotiated behind the scenes to buy the mall and move forward with plans to tear it down.

But by the time the tenants got their letters Friday, the city was "not at the table," said Charlotte City Council member Nancy Carter, whose district includes the mall, located at Central Avenue and North Sharon Amity Road.

Carter said Sunday that she expects the mall to close. And though she said she will continue to work to help answer "what now?" for the site, she was disappointed that the city had not acted more aggressively to buy the property when owners seemed interested in selling it for $22 million.

Instead, the council voted 9-1 late last year - Carter was the lone holdout - to approve a motion by then-council member John Lassiter to make an offer of $7.4 million for the mall. Lassiter's thinking was that the mall's owners would come back to negotiate.

They didn't, Carter said.

"I was disappointed because $7.4 million for highly developable land, which would be the terminus for a streetcar, was paltry," she said. "In essence, that (vote) closed the door on our staff initiative."

At the city council's February retreat, members unanimously voted, after a plea by Carter, that the city's staff be permitted to "discuss and have a dialogue" with the mall's owners, but only if they were approached. They never were, Carter said.

Asked if the city would bid for the property at a foreclosure auction, Carter said, "that's not appropriate for me to answer right now."

Lender didn't ask for city bid

LNR told the city last week about its intention to close the mall, said Jamie Banks, a spokesperson for the city's Neighborhood and Business Services division.

She said LNR didn't ask if the city was interested in buying Eastland.

Earlier this year, Banks said that while the city was no longer trying to buy the mall, it hadn't given up on the area.

She noted the city had helped fund the demolition of an empty Upton's department store on Albemarle Road near Eastland. The city is bringing a new fire station across the street from the site, and has long-term plans to build that streetcar route from uptown to the site, among other improvements to the area.

At the mall on Sunday, tenants and shoppers were talking as if the mall's obituary had already been published.

"It's unfortunate," the owner of one kiosk said. "It used to be a good mall."

The Rev. Rick Campbell, 49, who's still a loyal shopper, recalled the mall's good times.

"The first time I came here was 25 years ago, and this place was very, very vibrant," said Campbell. "You had a blending of cultures here - people from every country on the planet, It's going to be pretty sad to see this go."

Even as its fortunes spiraled downward in recent years, Eastland Mall attracted some nontraditional tenants.

Concrete2Green turned the ice-skating rink into a soccer field for boys and girls clubs. And last summer, the 350 members of Renovatus, a Pentecostal church, turned what used to be a three-screen movie theater into worship space.

On Sunday, the Rev. Jonathan Martin told his flock the news about moving out. The church isn't sure where it will move, but Martin said Renovatus has started ministries in east Charlotte neighborhoods and did volunteer work at Albemarle Road Elementary that will continue.

Concrete2Green and Renovatus, which gave visitors vouchers for meals at the food court, had been working valiantly to breathe new life into the mall, Carter said. "And there are some boutique vendors there who are dear to my heart," said Carter, who still shops at Eastland.

But she criticized Ohio-based Glimcher Realty Trust, the mall's main owner until it couldn't pay its debt, for not doing more in recent years to keep Eastland Mall from going down.

"They never reinvested in the mall," she said.

What now?

Carter said an ordinance passed by the city council will require LNR to keep the site "secure, safe and tended (to)."

Susan Lindsay, an eastside activist who has served on a number of neighborhood organizations, said she hopes the foreclosure helps move the property into the hands of people who can begin transforming it.

Like many in the area, she supported a city plan for mixed-use development on the site, with stores, homes and a greenway along a nearby stream.

"My hope is there will be some entities in a position to move forward to support plans proposed in the last few years for the area," she said. "...This could be exciting news."
Staff Writer Ames Alexander contributed.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/04/19/1384628/end-is-near-for-eastland-mall.html#ixzz0lYIgbP3v
 

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