CHARLESTON – Three notices of appeal have been filed in bankruptcy cases involving Tara Retail Group and Crossings Mall.
Comm2013 CCRE12 Crossings Mall Road LLC filed appeals Feb. 10 in three of the bankruptcy cases regarding the order and its corresponding memorandum opinion that were filed on Jan. 27 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia. The order confirmed the Tara Retail Group's Chapter 11 plan for reorganization.
There were two Chapter 11 plans filed — one by Tara and one by Comm2013, according to a Jan. 27 memorandum opinion.
The court entered a separate order to deny confirmation to Comm2013 and confirm Tara's plan for reorganization.
The court found that while both plans were confirmable, it found it appropriate to confirm Tara's proposed plan.
"As the court noted above, Comm2013 is the only creditor with an allowed claim supporting its proposed plan," the order states. "Although the amount of Comm2013's claim overshadows the respective amounts of other claims in the case, the overwhelming number of claimants, who are members of the community served by the Debtor, support the Debtor's proposed reorganization."
Comm2013 proposes to take title to Tara's property and liquidate its interest, but its liquidation will likely result in it receiving far less than under Tara's plan and will result in the end of Tara.
"Given a choice, the court finds that its discretion is better employed to promote the Debtor's reorganization, particularly when the Debtor's principals originally developed The Crossings Mall many years ago and the Debtor experienced its recent financial pressure only after a significant weather event that shuttered The Crossings Mall," the order states.
The only entrance to Crossings Mall was washed away during flooding in June 2016. It was more than one year later before the bridge was completely rebuilt so that the mall could reopen. Many of the businesses that had been in the mall re-opened once the roadway was rebuilt but the Kmart store did close last year.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Case number: 1:20-cv-00024, 1:20-cv-00025, 1:20-cv-00026