Statements captured on tape appear to show a major corporation wanting to weed out young black customers from one of Colorado's biggest and busiest shopping malls -- the Aurora Mall.

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Hear Leasing Agent As She Talks About Attracting White, Not Ethnic Customers

Aurora's mayor is saying the statements are highly offensive and he is not alone, 7NEWS Investigator Tony Kovaleski said.

In the 4-minute telephone conversation captured on audiotape, the leasing agent lays out the Aurora Mall's future marketing direction to a mall tenant.

"You're saying that they want to bring in more white clientele," an Aurora mall tenant asked on the tape.
"Or just more clientele, period. But we're not getting the white customer," Aurora Mall's top leasing agent responded.
"Is the mall going to, like, plan on just marketing primarily to white customers to get them into the mall or ...?" the tenant asked
"I would say our marketing is going to be more white-focused, yes," said the leasing agent.

To many, it sounds like these statements are more than just the leasing agent's opinion, especially when she uses words like "we" and "our." In fact, it appears she is providing the new direction of the mall's management, Kovaleski said.

"We never marketed to the ethnic customer, that's just what we got," the leasing agent said on the audio tape.

In April of 2003 the mall's owners unveiled a $100 million renovation plan including more than $15 million in tax breaks from the city of Aurora.

In a matter of months, the mall will feature new buildings and new businesses. And according to its marketing signs plastered all over the mall, the changes will bring "a whole new look."

"What you guys want to do is reduce the, ah, you know, the uh..." the tenant asked.

"We want to reduce the negative, um, aspects of the Center -- one of them is the young, black customer," the leasing agent said on the tape.

Simon Compari, who recorded the conversation, said that the tape "said (to him) that the mall was racist."

Compari said he heard similar comments a day earlier when he talked with the same agent about extending his lease at the mall.

"She told me that she didn't know if the food that I was having or prepared would cater to the new type of clientele that the mall was trying to (attract)," Compari said.

Compari sells ribs, hot wings and barbecue.

"It's pretty much soul food," he said.

Since the recording, Compari and mall management have parted ways. He's moved his restaurant to East Colfax in Aurora.

"I hope that things will change. I hope that the mall realizes it made a mistake and I hope they will make it right," he said.

When asked if the shopping center was looking to eliminate the young black customer, Aurora Mall general manager, Tish Glenn, said, "Absolutely not, no ... Race isn't considered. It's not a consideration when we're doing business."

Glenn works for the Simon Properties Group, a real estate investment company that is the world's largest mall owner. It purchased the Aurora Mall in 1998. One of the companies premier locations undoubtedly is Minnesota's Mall of America.

When told that somebody from Simon Properties said, "We want to reduce the negative aspects of the center, um, one of them is the young black customer," Glenn said, "That's absolutely false, and, again, I think that it's unlikely that it was said."

When 7NEWS played the audio tape for her, Glenn said, "Her statements are clear. Based on what I heard there, he was leading her. But what I can tell you is we have a leasing team involved in this project, and that is not the policy of the team."

Mall owner Simon Properties bases its operation in Indianapolis. The corporation declined 7NEWS' request for an interview and instead released a statement saying, "Remarks made by one of our leasing representatives ... were inappropriate, unbecoming and totally inconsistent with our corporate culture and policies and procedures as they relate to diversity."

When asked how she thinks Aurora's mayor would respond if he heard the recording, Glenn said, "(He'll) probably (respond) the same way I did -- surprised."

"I'm very surprised and quite bluntly offended. That doesn't reflect who we are as a community," said Aurora mayor Ed Tauer after he heard the recording. "It's just wrong and it's not acceptable at all."

When 7NEWS played the tape for council member at large Ryan Frazier, he said, "I'll be honest, what I've just heard is very disturbing. I'm disappointed. ... Let's not forget I'm a young black male and I'm on the city council. Do they want to rid me as well?"

The city of Aurora has already signed a contract providing the mall's owners with a $15 million tax break on its redevelopment plan. Tauer and Frazier say that can't change but they do expect answers and actions from Simon Properties.

"This is absolutely not OK, and that's why we're going to be proactive in making sure that they address this properly and they take proactive steps to make sure that everybody feels welcome," Tauer said.

"It's an outrage to take that public position. Definitely an apology is in order. And I certainly hope that Simon Management will take it upon themselves to do so," Frazier said.

In its response, Simon Properties did not apologize for the statements but the corporation is taking action.

The leasing agent on the tape has been dismissed from the project and suspended from the company pending the corporation's full investigation.

Aurora's mayor has asked Simon Properties to take decisive action in responding to this issue and he's asked the city's Human Relation's Commission to investigate the situation.

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