Even if construction on the new bridge to Crossings Mall began today, the shopping center's biggest creditor says it wouldn't be fully operational until August at the earliest.
After the owner of Crossings Mall, Tara Retail Group, filed for bankruptcy on Jan. 24, its lender filed an emergency motion for relief from the automatic stay on Thursday.
The motion came after the initial bankruptcy filing halted efforts to construct a new bridge to Crossings Mall.
If granted, the motion for relief will allow work on the new bridge to begin as the bankruptcy proceedings are under way.
The culvert - and the only access point to the mall - was washed out in the June floods last year, with roughly 500 people still out of work.
Martin Perry, who was appointed as receiver of the property in December, is working to restore tenant relations and leading the process to hire a contractor to build the bridge.
In an affidavit Perry filed last week in the bankruptcy case, he said a request for proposals was issued and five bids were received from contractors, ranging from roughly $900,000 to $1.4 million.
"The selected contractor proposed a contract price of approximately $1.1 million including engineering and project management fees," the affidavit states.
In a phone interview Friday, Perry declined to identify the company selected to build the new bridge.
In the lender's motion for relief, it notes that the continued construction delays "expontentially increase the risk of tenant departures, which could have a devastating and irreparable impact on the value of the property."
The motion alleges there currently is no equity in the property, and claims its "as is" value is roughly $6.4 million.
The question of when the mall will produce revenue again depends not only on the bridge's construction, but also on the willingness of existing tenants to remain at Crossings Mall after months of losses.
"The majority are wanting to come back as of right now, but the frustration levels are increasing on a daily basis," Perry said. "If there are longer delays, we'll definitely run the risk of losing more tenants, [but] I don't want to get into the specifics right now."
Perry wouldn't say which tenants have terminated their leases, but Bob Evans announced in the weeks after the flood it would not reopen. Kroger, one of the mall's largest tenants, also sent out a notice of default under its lease last year.
The lender, U.S. Bank Association, sued Tara Retail in federal court in September after Tara defaulted on a $13.6 million loan, with no ability to make payments from tenants who couldn't access the property.
Kanawha County Manager and fiduciary supervisor Andrew Gunnoe said the county also will file what's known as a joinder in support of the lender's motion for relief.
"The point of that is saying two things: We support any and all action for relief from the stay in order to get the bridge rebuilt, and also we're requesting that the judge has a hearing on it as soon as possible," Gunnoe said.
Also entered into the record on Friday was a letter from Kanawha County Commission President Kent Carper to U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Patrick Flatley, who is hearing the case. The letter also requests that Flatley take action to expedite construction of the new bridge by granting relief of the stay.
Carper also noted in the letter that the county declared the mall a public nuisance last year, as there is no route for fire suppression equipment to reach the property despite the presence of two large underground gasoline tanks on the site.
Tara Retail has until Feb. 17 to object to the motion for relief.
Reach Elaina Sauber at elaina.sauber@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-3051 or follow @ElainaSauber on Twitter.