The developers of the Fashion Mall in Plantation are voluntarily filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy will place the mall in the hands of professional fiduciaries, the developers announced. The entities involved include Mapuche, U.S. Capital Holdings and U.S. Capital/Fashion Mall.
The owners will present various expressions of interest in acquiring substantially all of its assets through a court-supervised auction to its interest in the Plantation Fashion Mall. Wei Chen formed US Capital Holdings to purchase the shuttered property in 2004. Since then, millions of dollars have been invested to revitalize and rehabilitate the property.
Recently, Mapuche, USCH’s parent company, became embroiled in a partnership dispute between Wei Chen and his business partner, Zhen Zeng Du, head of Tangshan Ganglu Iron & Steel Co.
Last month, attorneys for Zhen Zeng Du asked Broward Circuit Judge Jack Tuter to dissolve Mapuche and allow his son to replace minority partner Chen as project manager. – Christopher Cameron