CBL opens 1.4 million sq. ft. of new retail in emergence from Chapter 11

Through the pandemic and a Chapter 11 restructuring, one of the nation’s largest owners of regional malls reports that it put tenants in 1.4 million sq. ft. of newly leased space as it attempts to transform its portfolio into suburban town centers.

New tenants in CBL properties this year ranged from Live! Casino at Westmoreland Mall outside of Pittsburgh to Southerns Live Music and Entertainment at Post Oak Mall in College Station, Texas, to American Eagle’s first Offline location at CoolSprings Galleria in Nashville.

“Despite the challenges our industry has faced in 2020, expanding brands and new businesses recognize the value of CBL’s market-dominant properties as they open new locations,” said CBL CEO Stephen Lebovitz.

CBL has more new tenants lined up to open this month and in 2021. Whole Foods plans to open during the holiday season at Gunbarrel Point in CBL’s home base of Chattanooga, Tenn. TruFit Athletic Club will celebrate its grand opening during the first quarter at Sunrise Mall in Brownsville, Texas, and more than two dozen CBL properties will welcome new Hot Topic and Box Lunch kiosks.

“For the last several years, we’ve been challenging our leasing team to deliver the imaginative uses that our customers are asking for, and I am proud to say that they have delivered,” Lebovitz said.