A spokesman with Opus West said the mall, on State Highway 71, between Rural Route 2244 and Farm-to-Market Road 620, will operate as usual. The property is 70% leased with Dillard's and Dick's Sporting Goods as anchors. The spokesman also said Opus West is trying to resolve the current credit situation with its lenders.
The American-Statesman reports that Opus was meeting its debt obligations until early 2009, when the short-term construction loan matured. With no refinancing available, the interest payment doubled, and the project went into default, the Opus spokesman said.
Read more about the pending foreclosure here.
Hill Country Galleria, situated on 152 acres, opened in 2007. However, it's development attracted a great deal of controversy. During the early 2000s, Opus and development partners Lincoln Property Co. and IDM spent a great deal of time hammering out an acceptable deal to Bee Cave's officials.
As the development moved forward, groups, concerned that the mall would have a negative impact on an environmentally sensitive site, filed complaints. One of the groups, Save Our Spring, fought especially hard against the project, going so far a to file a law suit against the Village of Bee Cave for unlawful tax incentives.
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