TAMPA, Fla — Westfield Countryside and the Westfield Citrus Park Malls are both in deep financial trouble.
Lawsuits filed on both sides of the Bay against the malls’ property owner URW indicate the shopping centers defaulted on their loans this summer and are now nearly $278-million behind on their payments.
“Their mortgage payments are probably larger than we can imagine,” said commercial real estate attorney Eric Cruz of Brandon-based law firm Bivins & Hemenway.
He says instead of going through the lengthy and expensive foreclosure process, it appears Westfield is instead working out an agreement with the bank.
“Often what happens is when the company in foreclosure realizes that I can’t get out of this hole, they ask, 'Will the bank be willing to open to take the property back?'" Cruz said. "Rather than go through all the cost and time it’s going to take and then the bank will then look for a suitable buyer to take over that property.”
Shopping malls like Countryside and Citrus Park were struggling even before the pandemic. But when shutdowns hit and individual stores stopped paying rent, revenue used to pay off the mall’s mortgage suddenly disappeared.
“You have probably a lot of stores that are defaulting in their lease payments because they just can’t make them because of the pandemic and they were shut down for a while and even as they reopen people are still scared to go shop in person,” Cruz said. “Add to that the fact that in-person shopping is decreasing every year and less and less of us are going to the mall every year to shop.”
But shopping mall fans, fear not. With the bank’s decision to take over the property, the movie theaters, shops and that new Cheesecake Factory at Countryside are safe for now.
“They’ll continue to operate,” Cruz said. “It’s not something we expect them to shut down overnight.”
- Your COVID-19 vaccine questions, answered: Do I need to be a Florida resident?
- Tanya Roberts, 'That '70s Show' and Bond actress, dead at 65
- How to watch Alex Trebek's final 'Jeopardy!' episodes
- Report: Trump asks Georgia election officials to 'find' 11,780 votes on call
- $5K reward offered for information to help locate remaining man after ATV runs over officer
- County-by-county COVID-19 vaccine information for Tampa Bay seniors
►Breaking news and weather alerts: Get the free 10 Tampa Bay app
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter