Randall Park Mall stirs, as company tied to investors Stuart Lichter and Chris Semarjian steps in

A company tied to Stuart Lichter and Chris Semarjian, investors known for buying and remaking huge, empty buildings, recently acquired the core of the mall after a property-tax foreclosure.

View full sizeA empty shopping cart lies in the parking lot at Randall Park Mall several years ago. Real estate records show that investors known for buying and remaking massive, empty buildings recently acquired the heart of the dead mall and might be trying to resuscitate it.Plain Dealer file

NORTH RANDALL, Ohio -- Redevelopment plans are stirring again at Randall Park Mall, where the recent transfer of the dead mall's main building indicates that something might happen after years of deterioration.

A company tied to Stuart Lichter and Chris Semarjian, investors known for buying and remaking huge, empty buildings, recently acquired the core of the mall after a property-tax foreclosure.

Real estate records show that the company, Miles North Randall LLC, took possession of large swaths of parking and everything but the department store boxes and the shuttered theater on July 17. Village officials confirmed this week that Miles North Randall is affiliated with Industrial Realty Group, the California company led by Lichter.

During the last 10 years, Lichter and Semarjian have assembled a massive Ohio portfolio, with properties ranging from former automotive plants and manufacturing campuses to call centers and corporate headquarters projects. Through affiliates, Lichter's IRG owns more than 80 million square feet of real estate scattered across 25 states. Semarjian is an equal partner in Lichter's deals in the Great Lakes region.

Their sweet spot: Sprawling, often troubled properties, sold for bargain prices. Randall Park Mall, which opened in 1976 and once housed more than 200 stores, certainly fits those parameters. But it's unclear what the investors hope to do, or whether they'll be able to acquire the remaining buildings and parking.

Semarjian declined to comment Friday. Lichter did not respond to a phone message. Ed Hurtuk, a Mayfield Heights attorney whose name appears on corporate records for Miles North Randall LLC, did not return two phone calls. North Randall Mayor David Smith was unavailable.

Leonard Spremulli, the village's law director, said he expects to see broad plans from Lichter and Semarjian in September.

"We are in negotiations with them to sell them the Dillard's property," Spremulli said, referring to an empty department store that the village recently acquired through the Cuyahoga County Land Reutilization Corp., also called the land bank. "There will probably be something before council at our August 12th meeting. Beyond that, you would probably best talk to somebody from their camp to get an idea of what they have in mind."

Whatever the potential use, it's unlikely the mall -- at upwards of 1.5 million square feet -- will ever be retail again.

Whichard Real Estate, a North Carolina company that bought the mall in 2004, shuttered the main building in 2008 after selling off chunks of the property and letting it stagnate. Since then, the village has seen a series of redevelopment proposals, ranging from a mega-church to a business incubator to a wild, mixed-use project dreamed up by a South African developer.

But no one was able to grab control of the property. Deals fell through. Lawsuits piled up. The mall languished even as the nearby Thistledown horse racing track became a racino, with slot machine-like video lottery terminals.

Court records show that Miles North Randall LLC stepped into a foreclosure case that stemmed from Whichard's unpaid property taxes. To collect some of the money and hand off responsibility for chasing down the delinquencies, Cuyahoga County sold tax certificates on the mall to Plymouth Park Tax Services in 2007. Eventually, Plymouth filed to foreclose.

In June, Plymouth transferred the tax certificates to Miles North Randall LLC, putting the company in the perfect position to step in -- quietly -- after the mall failed to sell at two public auctions. From public records, it's impossible to tell how much Miles North Randall has invested in the property so far.

The Cuyahoga Land Bank, which monitors blighted properties, expects several other pieces of the mall to land in foreclosure because of tax delinquencies. The only operating businesses on the property are Ohio Technical College's PowerSport Institute, in the former JCPenney space; a Burlington Coat Factory; and a furniture liquidator next to the mall's northeast entrance.

Spremulli said North Randall's leaders are optimistic.

"Maybe the village has finally turned the corner with this property," he said, "and we expect and hope to see it redeveloped into something that's going to create jobs and be a boon to the village and its residents."

Chuck Horvath, the village's building commissioner, said he's impressed by Industrial Realty Group and the reputation that Lichter and Semarjian, who runs Industrial Commerce Ltd. in Macedonia, bring with them. But he's cautious.

"I haven't jumped up and down yet," Horvath said. "We spent almost a year and a half with (South African developer) Neill Bernstein, and I would have bet everything I had that that was going forward. Once I see a set of plans submitted, I'll start to get excited."