HIGH POINT – As many as three bidders may have offered to buy Oak Hollow Mall, which was listed for sale earlier this spring, sources tell The High Point Enterprise.

At least three independent sources, who asked to remain anonymous, say CBL & Associates Properties Inc. is mulling offers from entities interested in buying Oak Hollow, which opened 15 years ago and remains the city’s largest shopping center. One source indicates the offers appear to be from bidders who would want to maintain the mall as a retail complex.

The 44-acre mall property was listed for sale in mid-April at $15 million. The property listing didn’t include the Dillard’s or Sears department store, as the two retailers own their anchor store locations.

A spokeswoman for Chattanooga, Tenn.-based CBL & Associates, one of the nation’s largest mall owners and operators, said Thursday that the company had no comment on reports of a possible sale.

“No announcements have been made, and we do not comment on market rumors. I have no additional information to provide you at this time,” said Katie Reinsmidt, vice president of corporate communications and investor relations.

CBL & Associates is a main player in the shopping center market in the Piedmont. The company operates Hanes Mall in Winston-Salem and Randolph Mall in Asheboro. Its outdoor shopping centers include Friendly Center in Greensboro and Alamance Crossing in Burlington.

CBL & Associates owns, holds interests in or manages 163 properties nationwide, according to the company’s website.

Oak Hollow opened with great fanfare in 1995 at virtually 100 percent occupancy. The mall maintained a solid occupancy rate for its first 10 years. But about five years ago, as some of the leases of initial tenants expired, the mall began to lose stores and restaurants.

Oak Hollow management has succeeded in drawing nontraditional tenants in the past couple of years, such as a church, Christian-based dance studio and, most significantly, a customer service operation that brought hundreds of workers to the mall and filled a former anchor store location. But Oak Hollow has endured an erosion of traditional retail tenants and restaurants during the past five years.

pjohnson@hpe.com | 888-3528