Maplewood Mall owner calls off auction, says he 'never really wanted to sell'

The bidding process for Maplewood Mall was supposed to begin Monday.

One of the mall owners, however, decided to buy out his business partner's share in the property and take the mall off the market, for now.

Ben Hamd is happy to still be the owner of the Maplewood Mall after his company Brookwood Capital Advisors briefly put it on the market before calling off the auction last week.

"I never really wanted to sell it in the first place," he said.

Hamd's Nashville-based Brookwood Capital purchased the majority of the mall from Simon Property Group spinoff Washington Prime Group in June 2022 for $27.5 million. The anchor tenants, such as the empty Sears store, are owned by separate groups.

Months later, Brookwood Capital announced it would put its portion of the mall up for auction, stating one of its partners wanted to sell the shopping center, Hamd said.

Bidding would have started at $7.5 million. Brookwood Capital received as many as 10 offers for the mall, Hamd said.

"We'll look at traditional offers and we will consider offers for sure, but the game plan is to hold onto it for now," Hamd said.

Hamd said he will probably keep possession of the mall for years.

"It doesn't really make sense to sell, because it's hard to replace that income elsewhere," Hamd told the Star Tribune this week.

Store sales have continued to increase at the mall since 2018, Hamd said. Brookwood's portion of the mall has few vacancies, as the firm continues to build a diverse roster of tenants. New tenants that have signed leases are expected to move in soon, he added.

Some of the mall's most recent tenants are streetwear retailer Undrground and beauty salon Organic Fancy Salon. On Saturday, Impulsive Beauty will open, offering makeup application services and cosmetic tattooing for eyebrows, like microblading and shading.