Mall property 'a great site'

The intersection of 72nd and Dodge Streets is more than just home to a decades-old mall heading to the auction block Thursday.

It’s one of the most heavily traveled intersections in the Omaha metro area and a survivor of one of Omaha’s most destructive tornadoes.

It’s a regular pulpit for protesters and political campaigners and the celebration site for great football victories.

It will always be that, said Greg Peterson, a former city planner who now owns a consulting company. But it can be even more, he and other leaders say.

"It’s a fabulous, fabulous location in the city of the Omaha for a new project," Peterson said. "It is 72nd and Dodge. And it is a great site."

The sale of Crossroads Mall could spark a rebirth of the busy, high-profile intersection.

Even so, merchants inside the mall worry that any redevelopment would push them out.

Mall owner Simon Property Group put the struggling shopping center up for sale last summer, but no one bought it.

The mall defaulted on its loan this past fall, so ownership reverted to the lender, a commercial mortgage-backed securities trust. The public auction is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. Thursday in the Roskens Room of the City-County Building, 1819 Farnam St.

Meanwhile, the mall and its merchants, including Sears, Barnes & Noble and Target, continue to operate, but the winning bidder will make the ultimate decision about its future.

Target owns its own property, so it would not be included in the sale. Target did not immediately return a call Tuesday morning.

Kim Freely, spokeswoman for Sears, said Tuesday that Sears has no plans to close its Crossroads Mall store. "We plan to continue to operate as normal, and we hope to to work with the new ownership," she said.

Some retailers own buildings but not the land they sit on, and existing lease-holders say the site is key to their business. While those factors can complicate any redevelopment, they are not unique, Peterson said.

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