If you have ever dreamed of owning your own shopping mall, you’re in luck. The Eagle Ridge Mall in Polk County is up for sale.
“It just breaks my heart when you see all of these shops when you go by and they’re empty,” shopper Bunnie Lemery said.
Shoppers told WFLA they aren’t surprised the mall is up for grabs.
“They have been closing up. Like Sears closed up, and the rest of the stores are going downhill,” Rita King said.
In the era of online shopping, times are tough for shopping malls. After years of restructuring, the mall will be sold in an online auction. The starting bid is $2.7 million dollars.
“I think that’s just the trend. Malls seem to be kind of a relic from the past and if we can take advantage of the real estate we will,” Polk County Commissioner Bill Braswell said.
He says the county is considering purchasing the building.
“Polk County needs real estate. We’re growing and we need all kinds of land, the tax collector needs buildings, we need other space, the courts will probably want to expand in the next couple of years and we’re going to need the space,” he said. “It looks like this mall is pretty cheap. It’s not necessarily in the right location but you know if we find the right real estate in the right location we might do it.”
The auction will run from April 9 through April 11.
Company officials did not respond to WFLA’s request for comment.
