SPRINGDALE, Ohio — Texas developers who announced a billion-dollar makeover for Tri-County Mall in 2022, only to lose the 76-acre property in foreclosure this month, now say they expect to buy the mall back from their Utah-based lender by early July.
But that’s only one of the high hurdles facing Artisan Village, an upscale apartment community proposed on the Princeton Pike site by Houston-based MarketSpace Capital and Park Harbor Capital of Dallas.
It turns out the city of Springdale quietly terminated a development contract that offered up to $200 million in tax-increment financing incentives for the mall’s redevelopment, said Michael VanHuss, Park Harbor’s managing principal.
“We have a window to execute a transaction and refinance the property through another lender,” VanHuss said. “If we are successful in securing that financing, we will go back to Springdale and we’ll ask them to reinstate the development agreement.”
Springdale city officials did not respond to questions about the development contract. But city officials have previously said it’s willing to “evaluate any proposed development and financing structures that advance this project.”
Hamilton County records show an affiliate of Utah-based Reef Private Credit took possession of the Tri-County Mall site on May 16. The transfer followed a May 2 court order by Hamilton County Judge Robert Goering, who allowed Reef to acquire the property “free and clear of all liens” as part of a settlement agreement between Reef, developers and a court-appointed receiver.
Reef loaned the Artisan Village developers $28.1 million in 2022 to buy the mall, according to court records. Reef claimed it was owed $37 million when it sued to foreclose last November. The court order set the purchase price at $20 million and allowed Reef to use the money it was owed as a credit bid to claim the property.
VanHuss said the settlement agreement gave developers until June 2 to buy the property back from Reef for a price he would not disclose. The deal also let developers buy a 30-day extension for $400,000, VanHuss said.
If it all works out as he hopes, VanHuss and his partners will buy Tri-County Mall back in early July with a new financing plan that satisfies Reef and provides up to $25 million for demolition and site development. But he adds the deal won’t close unless Springdale re-instates its development contract.
“That property won’t develop without public financing,” VanHuss said. “It just won’t happen. Not by me. Not by anybody else. So, if Springdale wants to have a new development out there, and we own the property, it’ll either be through us or we’ll do something different on the property.”
VanHuss said has preliminary offers from apartment, hotel and entertainment-oriented companies interested in building at the former Tri-County Mall. While he thinks demolition could begin this year, he doesn’t expect new buildings to be under construction until next year.
“I don’t think you should look forward to anything actually going vertical for 18 to 24 months,” said VanHuss. “I’m not sure anybody is going to go any faster than that.”
