By Ashley Perham, Charleston Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The saga of the Charleston Town Center mall parking garages continues.
The garages will be auctioned off, according to a motion expected to be filed in the coming days with Kanawha County Circuit Court. The initial plan for the Capital Sports Center, a proposed $80-million multi-use athletic complex, was to use some upper floors of the Lee Street garage and some other nearby properties.
However, Steve White, chairman of the Capital Sports Center Development Association (CSCDA), said Wednesday at a CSCDA board meeting that the present plan is to build on the site of the former Macy’s retail location at the Town Center mall. An offer for the Macy’s parcel has been sent to the Charleston Urban Renewal Authority, City Attorney Kevin Baker said at the meeting.
‘Last step’ for garages
The sale will be “kind of the last step” for the garages, said Ann Starcher, who has been representing the CURA in the matter of the parking garages since 2017.
On Wednesday, she told members of the Capital Sports Center Development Association that the garages were owned by Charleston Building Commission (not to be confused with the city’s Building Commission) and have been in receivership with Boyd Real Estate Resources since this fall.
The sale will be free and clear of liens (in this case, money owed to the bondholders), but other obligations will continue with the structures. The garages are being sold “as is.”
