CoolSprings Galleria entrance
File photo

Chattanooga-based CBL Properties is now the sole owner of the CoolSprings Galleria in Franklin.

CBL Properties announced in a release on Dec. 23 that it had closed on an acquisition of its partner's 50 percent joint venture interests on the mall at Cool Springs and two other properties. Those were the Oak Park Mall in Kansas City and West County Center in St. Louis.

The Nashville Business Journal reports a CBL representative said the joint venture partner was Nuveen, the new name for some funds of parent company TIAA-CREF. That company formed the joint venture with CBL in 2011 that took a 50 percent stake in CoolSprings and three other malls.

In the acquisition, CBL paid $22.5 million and assumed a total of $266.7 million in three non-recourse loans for secured by each property. The release notes the CoolSprings Galleria loan has an interest rate of 4.84 percent and matures in May 2028.

“We are pleased to gain full control of these high-performing assets, which will allow us to more fully execute our vision for growth as well as reap 100 percent of the future financial gains,” CBL CEO Stephen Lebovitz said in the release.

Lebovitz also said the transaction is notable due to the development plans underway at the CoolSprings Galleria. Those plans for 600 apartments, a hotel and more than 76,000 square-feet of commercial space for retail and restaurants were revealed in neighborhood meeting on May 8 and were first reported by NBJ.

The Galleria opened in 1991 and has 150 more than one million square-feet, according to CBL. The company owns and manages 91 properties in 21 states.