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Southbridge Mall is sold to out-of-state investor

Southbridge Mall
Southbridge Mall

MASON CITY – Southbridge Mall is sold, and not to a local group, NIT has confirmed.

An asset manager with a real estate outfit in Irving, Texas told NIT this afternoon that US Bank is no longer the owner of the beleaguered mall.  Furthermore, no local group or owner will be taking over.

“It’s an out-of-state entity, and I can’t say who,” NIT was told by Mike Ludden, the man who previously managed the “asset” for US Bank, with C-Iii Capital Partners LLC of Irving, Texas.  “It was just sold today.  The ink’s not even dry on the contract, yet.  It’s a company out of New York.  They bought three other Iowa malls already.”

Word has been spreading fast all day that the mall has been sold.  According to sources, mall manager TJ Just is out, as of today.  A call to Southbridge Mall Monday morning was answered by a secretary, who was going to put Mr. Just on the phone.

“May I ask who’s calling,” the woman said.

“Yea.  Matt Marquardt.”

She then said Mr. Just was too busy to take the call.  She snickered when asked if Mr. Just had been fired and the mall had been sold.

The afternoon phone call to Texas yielded a little more information.

NIT was told by Mr. Ludden that efforts were made to find a local buyer, “but no one could step up and do it.  We tried, but to no avail.  It never got off the ground.”

Philip Chodur
Philip Chodur

Questions to City Administrator Brent Trout were not immediately returned today.  NIT was told today by other sources out of city hall that Mr. Trout and Mayor Eric Bookmeyer went to see TJ Just last Thursday; their discussions are unknown, as are many details surrounding this downtown “Renaissance Project”.  Mr. Trout recently said at a city council meeting, when pressed for answers, that Bookmeyer had taken a keen interest in the mall and the alleged hotel development a block away from it that has been at least 3 years in the making.  No ground has been broken on that proposed Marriott hotel, yet, despite promises as far back as 2013 that a hotel was coming.  Bookmeyer has been working with Philip Chodur on the hotel deal for quite some time, which is closely aligned with the sale of the mall and its solvency to house an ice arena for the long term.  If Mr. Chodur fails to secure the proper financing to move ahead with his hotel, the city has indicated it has a “contingency plan” in place – but has never released detail on that plan.  According to a document forwarded to NIT, Mr. Chodur may have been struggling to get financing for his hotel as recently as May of this year:

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The city continues to sign over city-owned property to Mr. Chodur and continue on with the project with him, however, saying little to the public about the true status of the project.

This sale of Southbridge Mall could mean that the deal is ready to move ahead – or it could spell more trouble for the mayor and his plot for downtown Mason City.  Even as the state Iowa hands out millions of dollars to other cities for their developments, Mason City has been cut out, so far.  It asked for $10 million from the state for the 5-point Renaissance Project.

Mr. Just did take a phone call at 3:35 PM today. He confirmed that the mall is sold and that JLL Management company will no longer be managing the mall, and “I could not come to an agreement with the new company on staying on.” He would not comment on his meeting last week with Mr. Trout and Bookmeyer.

More to come on this developing situation.

UPDATE: Sale of Southbridge Mall was announced on September 26. The mall was purchased by Kohan Retail Investment Group from New York state. City Administrator Brent Trout has sent the draft lease agreements to Kohan so that negotiations can begin with the new owners. The sale of the mall was a major issue to be resolved prior to final approval of the city’s Reinvestment District application.

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