By Trey Mewes, Austin Daily Herald

AUSTIN — Oak Park Mall has a new owner: the city of Austin.

Council member Jeff Austin and city officials announced Monday that the Austin Port Authority had reached a general agreement to acquire the Oak Park Mall property for $3.3 million.

Finance Director Tom Dankert said the city will work with tenants in the coming days and will likely announce more developments for the property once the Austin Port Authority reviews the deal during a special session Wednesday.

A Hormel Foundation grant to the city will cover the acquisition cost.

“We would like to publicly thank the Hormel Foundation for their generosity towards this project,” the city stated in a press release on Facebook Monday night.

The purchase agreement includes acquisition of the entire mall facility located at 1301 18th Ave. NW and an additional out lot located along 18th Avenue Northwest. That includes the mall property, Younkers and CineMagic 7. The Shopko property is owned by the retailer.

City officials said they plan to repair the parking lot, which has long been a talking point for area residents.

“All of us probably get more complaints about the Oak Park Mall parking, the driveway, parking lot, specifically, than anything else,” Mayor Tom Stiehm said.

Others were pleased to see the city move forward with a large-scale plan to address the mall’s economic potential.

“It’s exciting to move forward and see what new projects may be starting up there,” Council member Jeremy Carolan said.

The mall had been owned by Chicago-based Martin Graff of M H Graff & Associates Inc. and Martin Goldman of M J Goldman & Co. Ltd., the businessmen behind Oak Park Mall Ltd. Partnership and Oak Park Mall Land Ltd. Partnership.

However, rumors about the property have swirled in recent years as the mall faced tax issues. In June of 2013, the mall owners paid $378,170 owed on two lots a few weeks before the property was set to forfeit.