Decatur Crossing Center is facing foreclosure

Las Vegas' retail market took another hit Monday when lenders sued to seize a strip mall near Decatur Boulevard and U.S. 95.

The 9-acre Decatur Crossing Center at 204-290 S. Decatur Blvd. has defaulted on the terms of an $8.5 million loan issued in 2005, a lawsuit filed in Clark County District Court says.

The shopping center's owner, an investment group in Sherman Oaks, Calif., has agreed not to fight plans by the lenders to foreclose on the property and sell it, according to the lawsuit.

"The lender has been informed that the borrower does not intend to continue to manage the property and is unable to satisfy its loan obligations,'' the suit alleges.

Albert Cohen, one of the investors, said his company had not seen the suit and would respond to the allegations once it sees the complaint.

Lenders involved in the loan include a subsidiary of investment bank Credit Suisse and Wells Fargo Bank.

The shopping center is anchored by a Target store, though Target is not involved in the lawsuit since it owns its own real estate.

Decatur Crossing suffered an initial setback in June when a Big Lots store there closed.

Monday's lawsuit illustrates uneven conditions in the local retail sector.

The retail vacancy rate in the second quarter was 11.1 percent, well above the boom-period rates of between 3.2 percent and 4.1 percent in 2006 and 2007, according to Brokerage Colliers International.

Still, that 11.1 percent is down from the 11.7 percent vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2011. And in more affluent parts of Las Vegas, developers are gearing up to build or expand shopping malls.

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