Collin Creek Mall owners sell off property
City confident in property revitalization
Kevin Cummings
Staff writer, Plano Star Courier
One line on a quarterly financial report, could have serious and lasting impressions for the city of Plano and for one of what some may consider to be a city landmark.
Last Thursday, Rouse Properties Inc., the company that owns Collin Creek Mall announced in its 2015 first quarter report that as of April 30, it had conveyed its interest in the mall to its mortgage lender in full satisfaction of the mall’s multimillion dollar mortgage debt.
While this doesn’t mean that the mall will disappear, similar situations in other cities have resulted in “dead malls,” massive structures standing like an epitaph to former shopping, marketing and demographic trends. However, if another organization, as city officials are confident will happen, were to purchase the property, tenants and shoppers alike, may not notice any difference.
“The city has significant interest in Collin Creek, it’s been majors source of sales tax revenue for the city,” said Deputy City Manager Frank Turner. “We’re very optimistic about the future, we just don’t know yet which course it will take.”
In November of last year, New York-based Rouse had designated the mall as a “special consideration asset on its quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, meaning it was highly likely the mall would be turned over to the lender - Midland Loan Services, which is part of PNC Bank.
Collin Creek first opened in 1981. However, sale and pedestrian traffic have been declining in recent years, likely due to a number of causes, including outdoor malls such as Allen Premium Outlets and Firewheel Town Center in Garland becoming more popular and an increased number of residents shopping online. The mall has been operating at a loss for a number of years. According to the Dallas Morning News, the property was appraised by the Collin County Appraisal District at $130.6 million in 2001, and by 2009 its value had been lowered to about $86 million. Rouse conveyed the property back to Midland for $57.6 million.
“It’s our policy that we don’t comment on properties that we own or service,” said a representative from PNC Bank.
While the mall’s future is still uncertain, Turner said redevelopment and revitalization of the mall is highly likely. In other cases of malls being conveyed back to their lender across the country, in some cases the anchor stores of the mall, such as the case of Dillard’s pulling out of Collin Creek in 2013, close. The remaining businesses struggle to maintain sale and cover the cost of maintenance on the mall. Typically, anchor stores own the property they are located on, and are sometimes the last of the businesses to leave.
Turner said the city is confident a second option is what is expected to happen, which would have another property owner take charge of the mall’s operations, citing the fact that Collin Creek’s ownership has changed hands multiple times.
“Someone will purchase the property ... the property Collin Creek Mall is exceptionally strong,” Turner said. “We’re more than willing to sit down with a future owner and discuss how the property can be better positioned for the future.”