Orlando shopping mall owner files for bankruptcy

The owner of an aging Orlando shopping mall filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, automatically stopping a foreclosure lawsuit against for allegedly defaulting on a $42.2 million loan. The owner of the Fashion Square Mall, an affiliate of a Tennessee-based firm called UP Development, bought 80 acres including the 1970s-era mall in 2013. UP Development had been discussing a hotel development near the mall with Starwood Hotels.

Scott Shuker, a bankruptcy attorney for the Fashion Square Mall, told the Orlando Sentinel that the mall remains open, and the owners “hope to restructure existing debts and return to operating the Fashion Square property at a profit.” Shuker also told the Sentinel the lender that foreclosed on the Fashion Square owners, The Bancorp, recently contacted all mall tenants and “demanded that they pay their rent directly to Bancorp.” [Orlando Sentinel] – Mike Seemuth