Montana News Roundup: New Owners for Missoula’s Southgate Mall

Missoula's Southgate Mall is getting new owners as part of a four-mall deal announced this week.

Chattanooga, Tennessee-based CBL Properties is buying Southgate, along with malls in Ashland, Kentucky, Grand Junction, Colorado, and Ocala, Florida, in a deal valued at $178-million. The Wall Street Journal reports it's the first major deal for CBL in 10 years, and marks a move into acquiring "middle market malls", which serve a regional customer base and are considered a better investment than suburban malls, which have been struggling.

The deal marks the departure of Washington Prime Group, which had purchased Southgate from its original local ownership group just before the pandemic. Washington Prime had sold off many of its mall properties as it reorganized under bankruptcy in 2021.

CBL also went through bankruptcy reorganization, with a focus on "mid-tier" malls after November 2020.

Southgate is the second-largest mall in the deal, opening in 1978 and eventually expanding to 546,000 square feet.

    ️ Recent changes saw the opening of the new AMC theater, and the southern end of the mall converted from Penny's to a Scheels sporting goods.

Major highway safety project loses federal support

There's a setback for a major highway safety project, with Montana MDT finally confirming it will have to scale down the rebuilding of busy Highway 93 through the Mission Valley. The pullback of $75-million had been rumored for months, but was formally confirmed when MDT confirmed yesterday that the grant money is being withdrawn.

     MDT says it will have to rework plans for the Post Creek Hill project because there's simply not enough funding to handle the complexity of the improvements.

Billings school threats lead to arrest

A 16-year-old Billings teen is facing charges for "felony intimidation" for threatening to stage shootings at local schools and churches. BPD responded to a "suspicious call" Thursday morning and found the teen, determining the threats were credible. He's been turned over to Youth Services.

Tired of the lightning yet?

It was another evening of thunder across much of Montana, as unstable conditions and heat combined for widespread lightning and periods of heavy rain from Missoula and the Bitterroot, east to Helena, and from Great Falls along the HiLine. The National Weather Service issued numerous warnings and alerts for the storms and flash flooding.

     ⛈️ More storms are possible tonight and into Saturday, with the focus shifting to the north.

Prison for laser pointing

A Columbia Falls man who pleaded guilty to aiming a laser pointer at a helicopter is headed to prison for the next 8 months, and will also have to pay a $15,000 fine.

Prosecutors said 57-year-old Travis Kurt Meyers had pointed the green laser at a delivery worker, and another woman, also firing a gun, and then aiming at the helicopter the Flathead County Sheriff sent to investigate.

     The crew had said he may have also fired at the aircraft.

Missoula accountant ordered to pay back over $1,000,000

A Missoula accountant is being sent to prison for 2 years, after pleading guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his clients in a tax fraud aimed at medical marijuana businesses.

Prosecutors charged 54-year-old William Arthur Clawson with wire fraud and other charges, and he pleaded guilty to taking cash from the businesses, but only using a portion of the cash for taxes, and spending most of the money on personal expenses and debt.

      He's also been ordered to pay $1.4 million in restitution to the businesses.

Ravalli hiker safe

Some good news in the search for an overdue hiker in the Bitterroot Mountains. The Ravalli County Sheriff says the man, who didn't return on time from a hike between Tin Cup and Lake Como, made it back to the trailhead Wednesday night and is back home safe.

There was no immediate indication of what had gone wrong with his schedule. But Sheriff Steve Holton is thanking Ravalli County Search and Rescue, Choice Aviation, and Two Bear Air for helping with an extensive search over the past couple of days.