Maplewood Mall's owners putting it up for auction, less than a year after buying it

Maplewood Mall's owners, Nashville-based Brookwood Capital Advisors, plan to auction it off in early 2023, less than a year after buying it.

Bidding for the mall opens Feb. 13 and closes Feb. 15, according to an online auction listing. Bidding starts at $7.5 million.

In June, Brookwood purchased the mall from Simon Property Group spinoff Washington Prime Group for $27.5 million. Washington Prime filed for bankruptcy in the midst of the pandemic.

Brookwood worked to bring close to 30 new stores and kiosks to the mall in recent months. They include discount retailer Bin Mayhem, which opened last month, and nontraditional tenants such as a medical academy for those training to become phlebotomy technicians.

The auction listing says the mall was 72% occupied as of Nov. 9.

Last month, Brookwood executives confirmed that the mall was 90% to 95% occupied, including signed leases for tenants that hadn't moved in yet. Only four units were still vacant. This doesn't include the anchor tenants that are owned by separate entities, such as the empty Sears store, which has been vacant since 2018.

The real estate listing also mentions a project for "a proposed 287 apartments covering about 63% of the mall." However, the city has not received an official proposal for an apartment development.

The closest multifamily development project being reviewed by the city is for the closed Myth Live music venue directly northwest of the mall, which could possibly be demolished and replaced with about 240 apartments.

While there has been a return to more in-store shopping, many Twin Cities malls this fall still had foot traffic that trailed pre-pandemic years. According to data firm Placer.ai, foot traffic at Maplewood Mall was down 12% in September compared with the same time in 2019.