CHARLOTTE -- The owners of the largest portion of Charlotte's Eastland Mall are pulling out. After years of struggle, officials at Ohio-based Glimsher Realty Trust said the company would no longer fund any cash deficits at the property.

They plan on giving the mall up to a third party to handle its liquidation. That move is now bringing some uncertainty to those who are fighting to revitalize the area of town around Eastland Mall.

"Its just like no one is here. Nobody is here,” East Charlotte resident Ophelia Little said.

"They are closing all the stores here, and even when you go in there, it's all urban stores. Well, everyone is not urban,” added resident Kelly Charles.

Throughout most of the day, the parking lot at Eastland Mall remains empty, except for a few cars belonging to employees. But there is a lot of traffic on Central Avenue as people travel out of east Charlotte. That’s why after years of struggle and attempts to sell, Glimsher Reality Trust is giving up on the property.

"They have a difference between the rents, the operating costs and the mortgage, and they're just not meeting the bottom line,” City Councilwoman Nancy Carter said.

Carter hopes this will provide a window of opportunity for an investor to come in and begin a redevelopment process.

“This is a chance, the opportunity to get someone in there that is willing to look at the eastside as the new town center,” Carter added.

But others aren't as hopeful.

Ed Garber, a member of the Eastside Political Action Committee, said this liquidation process could actually put the revitalization efforts at a standstill.

"This may not help redevelop Eastland Mall; this may actually stall it because they have not turned it over to the bank and then there is going to be a fire sale. It could just sit there in limbo,” Garber explained.

Carter disagrees and said that won't happen because the city is devoted to seeing the mall turn into a mixed use development. That’s something residents in East Charlotte would love to see, as well.

The Charlotte City Council set aside $16 million of next year's budget to improve area's around the mall, and the city currently has an option to buy Belk and Dillard’s that runs out in November.

A judge still has to decide if Glimsher Realty Trust can turn its portion of Eastland Mall over to a third party.