Salem Center is under new ownership after lenders purchased the mall for $27 million last month.

The mall's former owners, OGG Salem Center, owed $31.5 million on a loan originally issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank in 2012. But they stopped making payments, defaulting on the loan earlier this year.

That forced them into receivership and, eventually, a trustee's sale on Aug. 30, where the mall was purchased by an Oregon limited liability company — RSS JPMCC2012LC19-OR SCL.

MORE ON SALEM CENTER:

New owners plan to continue operating the property normally, with the goal of selling it in the future, said David Foraker, an attorney with Miller Nash Graham & Dunn in Portland, who is representing the company.

"The mall is continuing to operate," Foraker said. The mall "will continue to operate as it always has." The shopping center has the same property manager, he said.

Salem Center General Manager Dana Vugteveen declined to comment.

An approximately 60,000-square-foot Nordstrom location that closed in April was not part of the August sale. JC Penney and Macy's department stores attach to the mall via skybridges, but are not part of the mall property.

According to court records filed in Marion County Circuit Court, there was "no new status on the progress of the sale of the vacant Nordstrom parcel" as of July.

Salem Center was originally the Nordstrom Mall, which opened in 1980. According to the mall's website, it now has approximately 70 stores, including Kohl's and Ross, as well as a food court.

Email jbach@statesmanjournal.com, call (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter @jonathanmbach.

More:Wanted: New home for the 14-foot, 3,000-lb. happy Buddha from Kwan's restaurant