TAMPA — The owners of Channelside Bay Plaza sought a federal judge’s approval last week for a speedy sale of the faded downtown mall to the Tampa Port Authority.
A former suitor is saying not so fast.
Liberty Channelside LLC, which tried and failed to buy the mall last year, asked the judge to block the sale until a court rules on Liberty’s claims that the port improperly thwarted its bid to purchase the mall from current owner Irish Bank Resolution Corp.
It’s the latest legal back-and-forth over Channelside and threatens to further delay a sale that was supposed take place by the 2013 holidays.