CBL PROPERTIES
Independent Enterprises was formed in 1912. The company rose to prominence as an operator of motion picture theaters in Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina. A corporate headquarters was established in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1914.
By July 1961, Independent Enterprises was headed by Moses Lebovitz, Charles Lebovitz and Jay Solomon. They sold the company's portfolio of eleven movie theaters and refocused its direction on the development of shopping centers.
One of the company's drive-ins was used as the building site for EASTGATE CENTER, its first retail complex. The mall opened in the fall of 1962. Independent Enterprises went on to develop strip-type centers in Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina.
Independent Enterprises merged with New York City's Arlen Realty & Development Corporation in early 1970. 8 years later, Charles Lebovitz and five other Arlen executives left the company and formed today's CBL & Associates. They named the endeavor after Charles B. Lebovitz.
The first CBL-developed shopping hub, Del Rio, Texas' PLAZA DEL SOL MALL, was dedicated in March 1979. The company became a publicly-traded Real Estate Investment Trust in 1993, with CBL & Associates Properties, Incorporated established as its official title. The company grew exponentially between 1995 and 2001, with various mergers and acquisitions. In October 2017, the corporate moniker was shortened to CBL Properties.
Malls and strip centers in the CBL portfolio were shuttered, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, between March and May 2020. Various properties re-opened, under strict guidelines established by the Center for Disease Control and local health department.
Unfortunately, the economic fallout resulting from Covid-19-induced shutdowns caused several already struggling retail chains to file for bankruptcy. In November 2020, CBL Properties also filed for Chapter 11 protection.
Sources:
http://www.cblproperties.com / CBL Properties
The Observer (Newberry, South Carolina)
The Florence Times Daily (Florence, Alabama)
http://www.cblproperties.com / CBL Properties
The Observer (Newberry, South Carolina)
The Florence Times Daily (Florence, Alabama)
https://www.timesfreepress.com
"CBL Properties" article on Wikipedia
