Vallco Fashion Park was turned over to a court-appointed receiver, Douglas Wilson Cos., last year after Richard E. Jacobs Group Inc., the real-estate company that bought the mall in 1998, defaulted on a $60-million mortgage loan from TIAA.

Part of the 1.1-million-sf Cupertino shopping mall, which is located at Wolfe Road and Stevens Creek Boulevard, was put on the auction block earlier this month. However, two of its tenants, Sears, Roebuck & Co. and J.C. Penney Co., which take up half of the mall, were not included in the auction, as they own their own buildings. Jacobs owned the remaining 476,000-sf of retail space.

TIAA started the auction with a $55-million bid, and remained the high bidder at the end of the auction. TIAA currently owns the land and a former Emporium store that is fully leased to Macy's.