Real estate company says Turtle Creek Mall tenants seek their business

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - As Turtle Creek Mall remains boarded up and closed, many businesses look to relocate, according to a local real estate company.

Haag Brown real estate owner Joshua Brown says their phones keep ringing with mall tenants looking for temporary housing, but one thing keeps them from moving forward.

“The tenants we’ve talked to have not been able to get into their spaces yet to even kind of gauge anything,” he says.

Best Buy, Gamble Home, Gearhead, and more reached out to the company.

This stops businesses from being able to access their inventory and work with their insurance companies.

Lindsay Kahn with Brookfield Properties released this statement to Region 8 News.

“We are currently working with our tenants to provide safe access to their stores and are in the early phases of our plans for moving forward. At this time we cannot allow cameras to come on-site. We appreciate your understanding and support during this time. We will share updates as soon as we are able," Kahn said.

Brown says tenants want three spots in town: the old Sears building, the old Pier 1 building, and Overstock Furniture.

He says it’s a big decision for any of the businesses.

“One, they’re going to have to get into their space to figure out if we’re going to come back here, is it going to be rebuilt. So are we looking for a temporary band-aid or a whole new store," he asks.

Whichever option businesses decide, it’s something to choose carefully because it’s a big decision.

“You don’t want to just go pick some anything to do a temporary location because there’s a chance you may need to operate there for a while,” he says.

Brown says all decisions are in the air for business owners.

“I assume the mall will do some meaningful rebuild or some project there to bring those tenants back so you’re going to have this temporary state, that’s just kind of, things are in transition, kind of in limbo,” he says.

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