CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Sunrise Mall continues to be in violation of the City of Corpus Christi code, something officials with the city said they are now addressing themselves.
The mall owners were notified by the city about multiple code violations.
Sunrise Mall is owned by MO-PAT Sunrise Mall, LLC, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022. The city said the owners were given a chance to maintain the property, but they are not complying.
Corpus Christi Code Enforcement has been keeping an eye on the property, checking for violations every week. Code Compliance Manager Michael Gutierrez said owners were notified of three different case types of violations.
"For each violation, for the litter and solid waste, the high weeds, we sent them a notice for that," Gutierrez said. "For the property maintenance code violations, we sent them a notice for that. For the unsecured structure, we sent them a notice for that,"
Those notices are good for 12 months. Since the owners did not address the issues, Gutierrez said the city hired a contractor to mow the grass and pick up litter and solid waste from the property.
That contractor performed that work on Friday.
"We give them a chance to secure the property, to clean it up, and for whatever reason, the owner choses not to do that. So, the city's going to step in and, and, and do the job for them," he said.
Gutierrez said other contractors will also give bids to secure the structure, adding that boarding up will cost more than the cleanup. The owners will be billed for the contractors' work.
If they do not pay, he said it will become a lien on the property, which is a notice attached to the property by a creditor when money is owed by the owner.
3NEWS also reached out to attorneys for MO-PAT Sunrise Mall, LLC's bankruptcy case to ask about the code violations, but did not receive a response yet.
Gutierrez said if there are more code violations in the future, the owners will be given an opportunity to address them. If they do not, the city will hire contractors to do it again.
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