Mayor Michael B. Coleman and Capitol South Community Urban Redevelopment Corporation announced today that they were filing suit to take control of City Center Mall.
“While Downtown is seeing a new era of investment and new development, the out-of-town management of TL-Columbus has failed to step up and breathe new life into City Center Mall,” said Mayor Coleman. “We are demanding that these absentee landlords turn over the keys and allow us to redevelop the site and take control over our own destiny.”
Capitol South had a long-term lease with an entity called TL-Columbus, a partnership between General Motors Pension Fund and Simon Property Group. Earlier today, Capitol South filed a lawsuit in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas and served an eviction notice to TL-Columbus for failing to pay their rent.
“TL-Columbus stopped paying rent after years of absentee ownership,” said Guy V. Worley, President/CEO of Capitol South. “We’re enforcing our rights under the lease to regain control of this mall. We don’t know how long it will take for legal proceedings to run their course, but I will tell you that Capitol South, along with Mayor Coleman, is committed to this for the long haul.”
When City Center officially comes back to the City and Capitol South, Nationwide Realty Investors (NRI) has agreed to create a redevelopment plan. From the time the mall is turned over to Capitol South, NRI will have six months to present a plan for approval to the Capitol South Board, the mayor and City Council.
“Mayor Coleman and Capitol South proactively engaged our services in March 2006, anticipating that one day, City Center would be back under their control,” said Brian Ellis, President of NRI. “We will work with the Mayor, City Council and Capitol South to create a redevelopment plan that will help make City Center once again a meaningful asset to the community.”
