DeSoto Square mall closing. Redevelopment could still happen if owners find the cash
DeSoto Square mall, once the Bradenton area’s premier shopping destination, will close its doors for good Friday after years of falling sales and litigation.
Unlike in 2017 when New York-based Meyer Lebovitz acquired the mall and announced ambitious redevelopment plans, the notice of the mall closing was printed on a paper taped to the entrance.
The owners of the mall, located at 303 301 Blvd. W., purchased the property in April 2017 for $22,850,000. Most of the planned improvements failed to materialize. The mall owners still owed $21,789,102 when lender Romspen U.S. Master Mortgage LP, a Cayman Islands limited partnership, filed to foreclose on the property in 2018.
The foreclosure sale was canceled in September after the mall’s owners filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District Court of New York.
While the mall is closing, Hudson Furniture, which has its own entrance, will remain open.
“The owners are 100 percent committed to staying open in DeSoto Square mall,” general manager Chet Ballenger said Thursday. “Our business has been phenomenal, and in fact we are hiring.”
The New York bankruptcy judge recently returned the case to the federal bankruptcy court in Tampa, Murray B. Silverstein, of Greenspoon Marder LLP, who represents the lender, said Thursday.
Mall owners have 90 days to find financing to proceed with demolishing most of the mall and redeveloping the site as a multi-use project.
In papers filed with Manatee County, the mall owners proposed redeveloping the 57.86-acre mall property into 128,514 square-feet of retail — lifestyle center, a 40,000 square-foot grocery, 90,000-square-feet of office space and three retail outparcels, totaling 16,250-square feet.
Also planned: 360 units of residential — lifestyle center, 360 units of residential-garden homes, 150 units of senior housing, and two residential-amenity buildings.
“It is expected that the full build-out of the DeSoto Square Mall Redevelopment Project may take as long as 10 years to complete and include multiple builders/developers involved in various portions of the project,” Kimley Horn, the company that designed the Bradenton Riverwalk, wrote in a memorandum dated Nov. 22 to Manatee County Development Services.
“The proposed development will require the complete removal of the existing mall and infrastructure, under the control of the applicant (not including Sears), to incorporate the new development,” the memorandum states.
The former Sears store area, where Go Store It Self Storage is now located, and the Hungry Howie’s Pizza building and parking lots are not included in the redevelopment plan.
“The plans are wonderful,” Silverstein said Thursday.
Until the mall owners can demonstrate whether they can find financing, the bankruptcy case has been placed on hold.
“It’s not surprising that they are getting around to closing the mall. It’s unfortunate,” Silverstein said.
If the mall owners are unable to raise money for the development, the foreclosure sale proceedings can resume, he said.
DeSoto Square opened in 1973 and often faced flooding problems during heavy rains.
The Kimley Horn memorandum also addresses historic flooding problems in the area and how those issues can be resolved with three proposed retention ponds and an expansion of the county-owned pond on a parcel north of and adjacent to mall property. New infrastructure would be constructed above the flood plain elevation.
Remaining businesses in DeSoto Square are planning to reopen elsewhere, including:
▪ Bath and Body Works to the 6700 block of Manatee Avenue West near Fresh Market.
▪ Gentlemens Choice to the 800 block of Cortez Road near Ross.
▪ Gold Palace, All Dressed Up and Street Scene to Premium Outlets in Ellenton.
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 11:03 AM.
