ORANGE PARK, Fla. — *The above video was originally published on Sept. 7, 2020
The owner of Orange Park Mall in Clay County filed for bankruptcy protection Sunday as it deals with its debt and the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on shopping.
Washington Prime Group filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy and said it "will be business as usual at all of the company's retail town centers throughout the proceedings."
Washington Prime Group owns 102 shopping centers nationwide with 12 in Florida. In the Jacksonville area, Washington Prime owns Orange Park Mall on Wells Road and Westland Park Place at 6000 Lake Gray Blvd. in Jacksonville, located on the opposite side of Interstate 295 from the mall.
The COVID-19 pandemic created "significant challenges for many companies" and the Chapter 11 filing is needed to cut Washington Prime's debt, the company said in announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“The Company’s financial restructuring will enable WPG to right-size its balance sheet and position the Company for success going forward," company CEO Lou Conforti said.
The 953,000-square-foot Orange Park Mall opened in 1975, joining Regency Square mall in Jacksonville as the region's biggest shopping destinations. The Avenues mall in Jacksonville then opened in 1990 and St. Johns Town Center followed suit in 2005 in Jacksonville.
Orange Park Mall lost one of its anchor tenants in 2020 when Sears closed its store during a national shutdown of dozens of Sears stores.
The mall has about 120 retailers such as Belk, Books-A-Million, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Dillard's, JCPenney, and Old Navy, according to Washington Prime Group. It also contains a 24-screen AMC 24 Theatre and a 400-seat food court.
Simon Property Group spun off Washington Prime Group as an independent company in 2014. Simon Property Group still owns St. Johns Town Center and The Avenues.
The pandemic caused Jacksonville-based Stein Mart to declare bankruptcy in August 2020. Stein Mart closed its brick-and-mortar stores and focused on its online sales.
In St. Johns County, the owner of St. Augustine Outlets wants to close the mall and use the 31 acres to build about 350 multi-family units and up to 99,500 square feet of retail and commercial space.
A June 8 application submitted to the St. Johns County Growth Management Department said the outlet mall is aging and has been struggling to keep tenants "for some time."