VERO BEACH — A Nevada corporation that holds the mortgage for Vero Fashion Outlets is seeking to foreclose on the mall, according to civil lawsuit filed in Indian River Circuit Court.

LNV Corp. of Nevada is seeking $32.15 million, including principal and interest, because the mall defaulted on payments, according to the lawsuit.

“Vero (Fashion Outlets) has defaulted,” wrote attorney Kenneth Curtin, of West Palm Beach, in a lawsuit filed Aug. 26. It is assigned to Circuit Judge Paul Kanarek. No action has been taken in the civil lawsuit and the mall’s owners have not responded to the allegations. Curtin did not return calls Wednesday.

The mall is still operating daily, according to the mall’s Web site, www.verobeachoutlets.com. County records show Vero Fashion Outlets still owns the 43-acre outlet mall.

Bay Harbor-based Irwin Tauber, principal of Vero Fashion Outlets LLC, purchased the mall for $38.2 million in November 2007. According to his company’s Web site, www.taubco.com, the company specializes in the development of commercial real estate. His wife, Laura Tauber, is listed as the managing director of the outlet mall.

The Taubers and Vero Fashion Outlets manager Sue Hunt did not immediately return calls Wednesday. In April 2008, Laura Tauber told Scripps Treasure Coast Newspapers the company planned to spend “millions” revamping the 328,000-square-foot outdoor mall.

Representatives from the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce did not return calls Wednesday.

Billy Moss, a commercial real estate agent with Lambert Commercial Real Estate, said the downturn in retail economy is affecting chain stores across the Treasure Coast.

“It’s the beginning of the tsunami of commercial real estate,” Moss said. “Right now, people are shopping at levels below the outlets. They’re shopping at the Dollar Store and thrift shops. Penny pinching and being frugal is the thing to do now.”

Also named in the lawsuit are companies with financial interests in the mall including The GAP, Inc., Beall’s Outlet Stores Inc. and Polo Florida, LLC.

According to the lawsuit, LNV took over the mortgage in July 2009. It previously was held by Prudential Mortgage Capital Co., which assumed the mortgage when the property was last purchased in 2007.

In November 2008, the Taubers paid $463,045 in property taxes, according to Indian River County Tax Collector Carole Jean Jordan. The property is one of the highest appraised single commercial properties in the county, with an appraised value of $23.7 million.

The outlet mall, just west of Interstate 95 at 1824 94th Drive, has changed hands several times since opening in 1994. The first owner, Horizon Group Properties Inc. of Chicago, sold the property to Prime Retail Inc. in 1996.

Stoltz Management of Delaware purchased the outdoor mall in November 2003 from John Hancock Life Insurance Co. At the time, the two entities entered an agreement in which Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. would manage the mall. Stoltz Management of Delaware decided to control the outlet alone in November 2004.

Elliott Jones, Nadia Vanderhoof

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