The owner of Crossings Mall claims it doesn't have the necessary funds to construct a new bridge to the mall, according to a federal lawsuit filed by the lending group that sued the owner last month for defaulting on a $13.6 million loan.
The original complaint, filed Sept. 28 in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of West Virginia, lists U.S. Bank, National Association as the plaintiff and Tara Retail Group LLC as the defendant. The owner of that company, William A. Abruzzino, is listed as the borrower, along with Rebecca A. Abruzzino.
The Kanawha County Commission likely also will take legal action against the owner this week, on the grounds that the bridge, washed out in the June 23 floods, has become a public nuisance and safety hazard, Commission President Kent Carper said Monday.
Since the June floods, the U.S. Bank complaint says, at least two tenants, Shoe Show and Rent-A-Center, vacated the property. Bob Evans restaurant closed down weeks after the flooding, the Gazette-Mail has reported.
Kroger, the property's largest tenant, recently sent a notice of default under its lease, according to the complaint. Roughly 500 people are out of work since the culvert was washed out.
The original lender is listed as UBS Real Estate Securities, which lent Tara Retail Group $13.6 million in mid-September 2013. At some point, UBS sold the loan to U.S. Bank.
The lawsuit is seeking repayment of the remainder of the loan, which had a principal balance of $13.2 million as of Aug. 3, plus interest, legal fees and expenses accrued after that date.
"On information and belief, defendant claims it does not have the resources to pay for the bridge construction," the complaint says.
"Although defendant has secured some of the permits necessary for construction, over three months have passed since the flood, and neither the defendant nor the state has begun construction."
The plaintiff filed an emergency motion on Oct. 21 for the appointment of a receiver to handle the property.
The motion accuses the defendant of "losing credibility with tenants and the strained relations between the tenants and defendant have reached a crisis point."
A receiver would be appointed to develop and carry out a plan to repair the bridge and stabilize tenant relations.
On Monday, county officials, local fire department heads and the state fire marshal met at the washed out culvert near the mall to discuss the county's plans to file a lawsuit against the owner.
If a fire broke out in one of the buildings, responding agencies wouldn't be able to properly access the mall to put it out, Carper said.
The existence of two gas stations - with gasoline tanks on site - also poses a safety hazard, he said.
While work on the new bridge originally was supposed to begin Aug. 1 and take eight weeks to complete, the owner has provided no evidence that construction has begun.
Abruzzino applied for a building permit to construct a new bridge on July 15, and the county issued the permit on Aug. 5.
Attempts to reach Abruzzino on Monday were unsuccessful.
When asked why the county didn't take legal action sooner, Carper said he thought the owner would keep his word about fixing the bridge on time.
"I just thought the owner of a piece of property of that value would be responsible enough to fix it, and that's what we were told. [It] didn't happen," he said.
Carper added that the county had no knowledge of the federal lawsuit until Monday morning.
The Huntington District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the regulatory agency overseeing any new bridge's construction, notified Abruzzino in an Aug. 2 letter that the plans proposed for a new bridge met the criteria for a floodplain permit.
Applied Construction Solutions, based in Bridgeport, is the contractor for the new bridge, which carries a bid price of $680,000.
The County Commission plans to vote on the matter at its meeting today.
Commissioner Dave Hardy said that, depending on the recommendation from the county attorney, it will either file its own complaint or join the federal lawsuit that U.S. Bank filed.
"We've exhausted every form of conversation and negotiation we can have with Mr. Abruzzino," Hardy said, calling the washed out culvert a "public nuisance and a danger."
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.