A Washington court approved the $12.5 million sale of the Nugget Mall on Wednesday to Florida company Aventine Development Corporation.
The sale represents the end of a court process which saw the mall fall into receivership by Washington firm Resource Transitions Consultants.
Kevin P. Hanchett, part of Resource Transition’s executive team, confirmed the sale by phone Wednesday. It should be finalized in June, he said, and he doesn’t anticipate any hiccups.
“I presented the order this morning and the court approved the sale,” Hanchett said Wednesday.
Ongoing environmental cleanup on one of the mall’s five parcels — the Nugget Mall annex building by Joann’s fabrics — means Aventine only officially purchased four of the five parcels. The company has an option to purchase the fifth parcel, Hanchett said, once Resource Transitions Consultants finishes cleaning up solvents left over from an old dry cleaning business in the annex.
The cleanup process is going faster than Hanchett anticipated, he said, and will likely be done by the end of the year.
The mall’s old owners, companies Donde LLC and Loveless-Tollefson, likely won’t see any of the proceeds from the sale, Hanchett said. The costs to clean up the annex, pay off creditors and finish the Sportsman’s Warehouse addition to the mall will likely use all of that money.
While the mall was in receivership, plumbing fell into disrepair at one end of the mall, forcing two businesses to close, at least one permanently.
• Contact reporter Kevin Gullufsen at kgullufsen@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @KevinGullufsen.
