You probably know that a foreclosure suit was filed last week against the owner of Park Plaza Mall. (If not, see Lenders Foreclose on Little Rock’s Park Plaza Mall.) But did you know that the mall’s owner is once again challenging the Pulaski County Board of Equalization’s $63.6 million appraised value of the three-story mall in 2020?
In January, Park Plaza Mall CMBS LLC said in a Pulaski County Circuit Court filing that the mall’s “real and true market value” is just $20.9 million — or even lower. Park Plaza and other malls across the country have struggled amid rising e-commerce sales and declining mall traffic. “The mall has experienced substantial store closings and lease expirations,” said the mall’s filing. “These conditions and others are negatively affecting the price that willing buyers would pay to purchase the property in an open market transaction.”
The mall wants a circuit court judge to say the fair market value of the mall is $20.9 million or less.
Park Plaza also appealed the county’s 2019 valuation of the property, which also pegged the mall’s value at $63.6 million. That case is pending in Pulaski County Circuit Court.
In both cases, the Board of Equalization denied Park Plaza’s allegations.
It’s been a rough couple of months for the mall. In November, Park Plaza Mall owner CBL & Associates Properties Inc. of Chattanooga, Tennessee, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, seeking to restructure its debt.
And last week, lenders filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the mall and asked a judge to appoint a receiver after mall owners missed their payment on a loan with a $74.5 million balance.
Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas filed the foreclosure lawsuit in Pulaski County Circuit Court. The bank, acting as trustee for Registered Holders of Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Securities, says the mall defaulted on the loan, citing a missed payment due in April 2020.
The mall’s attorney, William Elias of Oklahoma City, wasn’t immediately available for comment on Thursday afternoon.
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