CBL Properties (previously CBL & Associates, Inc., then CBL & Associates Properties, Inc.) is an American

real estate investment trust A real estate investment trust (REIT) is a company that owns, and in most cases operates, income-producing real estate. REITs own many types of commercial real estate, including office and apartment buildings, warehouses, hospitals, shopping ce ...

that invests in shopping centers, primarily in the Southeastern and

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...

. The company is organized in

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacen ...

with its headquarters in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, it also extends into Marion County, Tennessee, Marion County on its west ...

. The company's largest tenants are

L Brands Bath & Body Works, Inc. (formerly known as L Brands, Inc., Limited Brands, Inc. and The Limited, Inc.) is an American specialty retail company based in Columbus, Ohio. It owns Bath & Body Works, posted $11.9 billion in revenue in 2021, and wa ...

(4.25% of revenue), Signet Jewelers (2.87% of revenue), and

Foot Locker Foot Locker Retail, Inc. is an American sportswear and footwear retailer, with its headquarters in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, and operating in 28 countries. Although established in 1974, and founded as a separate company in 1988, Foot ...

(2.78% of revenue). The company's name is based on the initials of its founder, Charles B. Lebovitz.

History

In 1961, Moses Lebovitz, his son, Charles B. Lebovitz, and Jay Solomon founded Independent Enterprises. In 1970, the company merged with Arlen Realty & Development Corporation, which owned shopping centers on the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Eastern United States meets the North Atlantic Ocean. The eastern seaboard contains the ...

. In 1978, Charles B. Lebovitz and five associates formed CBL & Associates, Inc. In March 1979, the company built its first mall, the Plaza del Sol Mall in

Del Rio, Texas Del Rio is a city and the county seat of Val Verde County in southwestern Texas, United States. The city is 152 miles west of San Antonio. As of 2020, Del Rio had a population of 34,673. History The Spanish established a small settlement south o ...

. In 1987, the company built Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, its flagship mall. In 1993, CBL & Associates Properties, Inc. was formed as a REIT and acquired all of the assets of CBL & Associates, Inc. The company became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange ( l ...

via an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

. In 1995, the company acquired two shopping malls, WestGate Mall in

Spartanburg, South Carolina Spartanburg is a city in and the seat of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, United States. The city of Spartanburg has a municipal population of 38,732 as of the 2020 census, making it the 11th-largest city in the state. For a time, the Offi ...

and Suburban Plaza in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division and the state ...

, for $32.3 million. In 1998, the company acquired five properties near Nashville, Tennessee for $247.4 million in cash and securities. It also acquired Meridian Mall and Janesville Mall for $68 million in cash and $52 million in partnership units. In 2001, the company acquired a 23-property portfolio from Richard E. Jacobs for $1.3 billion. In March 2005, the company opened

Imperial Valley Mall Imperial Valley Mall is an enclosed shopping mall in El Centro, California. Opened in 2005, the mall features J. C. Penney, Dillard's, and Macy's as its anchor stores. It is managed by CBL & Associates Properties. History Sears and J. C. Penney ...

El Centro, California El Centro ( Spanish for "The Center") is a city and county seat of Imperial County, California, United States. El Centro is the largest city in the Imperial Valley, the east anchor of the Southern California Border Region, and the core urban ar ...

, its first mall on the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous ...

. In October 2005, the company acquired Oak Park Mall, Hickory Point Mall, and Eastland Mall for $516.9 million. In 2007, the company acquired four malls in the St. Louis area from

Westfield Group Westfield Group was an Australian shopping centre company that existed from 1960 to 2014, when it split into two independent companies: Scentre Group, which owns and operates the Australian and New Zealand Westfield shopping centre portfolio; ...

, for $1.03 billion. In 2011, the company acquired Northgate Mall in

, which was built by its predecessor, Arlen Shopping Center Group, under the direction of Charles B. Lebovitz in 1972 and was later sold. In 2012, the company announced multimillion-dollar renovation of the property. In 2016, the Chesterfield Mall, went into

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

after the company defaulted on its

mortgage loan A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any p ...

. In January 2017, the company acquired five properties from

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began ...

for $72.5 million in a

leaseback Leaseback, short for "sale-and-leaseback", is a financial transaction in which one sells an asset and leases it back for the long term; therefore, one continues to be able to use the asset but no longer owns it. The transaction is generally done fo ...

transaction. In April 2017, the company was added to the

S&P 600 The S&P SmallCap 600 Index (S&P 600) is a stock market index established by Standard & Poor's. It covers roughly the small-cap range of American stocks, using a capitalization-weighted index. To be included in the index, a stock must have a to ...

index. In October 2017, the company rebranded itself as CBL Properties rather than "CBL & Associates Properties". On March 20, 2019, the company settled a lawsuit that it overcharged tenants for electricity by setting aside a $90 million fund to be distributed to the plaintiffs. On November 1, 2020, CBL filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, whet ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

's effects on malls.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:CBL and Associates Properties 1978 establishments in Tennessee 1993 initial public offerings American companies established in 1978 Companies based in Chattanooga, Tennessee Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Financial services companies established in 1978 Real estate investment trusts of the United States Real estate companies established in 1978 Shopping center management firms Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020