Judge approves sale of St. Cloud’s Crossroads Center mall

ST. CLOUD — A Stearns County judge last week approved the sale of Crossroads Center mall to a Delaware company that plans to take over the mortgage the previous owners hadn’t made payments on since August 2020.

The fate of the St. Cloud mall had been unknown since late last spring when the previous owner was found to be delinquent on its loan. U.S. Bank Trust Co., a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, filed suit in July against St. Cloud Mall LLC, affiliated with New York-based Brookfield Properties, to initiate foreclosure proceedings.

The lawsuit asked the court to allow for the sale of the property and to enter a judgment against the owners in excess of $84 million, which the mall’s owner owed on the principal, as well as interest and other fees.

In August, both parties submitted a joint motion to appoint a receiver, which is a neutral party that does not have any involvement or affiliation with the property, noteholder or borrower.

Stearns County Judge Laura Moehrle issued an order appointing Trigild, a commercial real estate company, as the receiver to “take possession of and protect the property” and “manage and operate the same and collect rents and any other income generated,” court documents state.

The order gave Trigild the authority to market and sell the property. Trigild entered into a purchase agreement with the Delaware limited liability company Contrarian Crossroads in late December. The agreement, which is not included in court documents, states the buyer will assume the mortgage debt and any related liens.

Moehrle’s order approving the sale was entered into the court system on Jan. 19. The case is now listed as closed.

Brookfield did not respond to a request for comment. The company told the Star Tribune in April that it was “constructively working with the lender to identify the best possible outcome for the future of the shopping center community.”

Ballard Spahr law offices, which represented U.S. Bank, also declined to comment.

The secretary of state’s office lists Contrarian Crossroads as having a principal place of business address in Houston, Texas and a registered state address in Roseville.

Crossroads Center is the largest regional shopping mall in the state outside of the Twin Cities. It opened in 1966 with about two dozen stores and has expanded to nearly 900,000 square feet of retail space. Current anchor stores include J.C. Penney, Macy’s, Scheels and Target.