Swap in Ownership Stake Gets Easier for Charleston Town Center

The Charleston Urban Renewal Authority voted this week to waive a fee that helps the Charleston Town Center Mall sell its stake to an Australian company. The agency will waive a 10-percent transaction fee, worth about $13 million, thinking of the future and a strategy to keep the mall in downtown Charleston. Cleveland-based Forest City Enterprises Inc. will sell its ownership stake in the mall to Queensland Investment Corporation, which the Gazette-Mail reports already owns partial stake. There have been concerns recently over store closings, and there are efforts in the works to convince other stores to stay.