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Journal Issue
Bankruptcy Code
Bankruptcy Rule
Landlords Selling Poor-Performing Malls Online
With more retailers shuttering stores across the U.S., some property owners and managers are trying to unload weak malls at a faster pace. The quickest and easiest way to do that, it turns out, is online, the Wall Street Journal reported. In July, Midway Mall in Elyria, Ohio, was sold for $4.5 million via an online auction hosted by Ten-X Commercial, an online real-estate transaction marketplace. Privately held commercial real-estate investment and management firm Namdar Realty Group purchased the single-story, 585,606-square-foot mall for $8 a square foot, according to data from Real Capital Analytics. The mall, built in 1965, was foreclosed on last year, and its mortgage was transferred to LNR Partners LLC, a special servicer that oversees workouts of troubled loans. (Subscription required.)
Contractor’s Bankruptcy Unlikely to Slow Rise of Manhattan Skyscrapers
Two construction projects set to feature prominently on Manhattan’s skyscraper-studded skyline will continue to rise uninterrupted, after a bankruptcy judge approved a financial lifeline for a key contractor, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Following a hearing Wednesday at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Judge Sean Lane agreed to sign off on a piece of a $135 million financing package meant to keep Navillus Contracting working on some 68 open construction projects. Judge Lane gave Navillus permission to tap $7.5 million of the bankruptcy loan from Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. Navillus will have to return to court Dec. 20 for approval to access any additional financing. The company says it “is ready, willing and able to continue its construction operations,” despite its bankruptcy. In court papers, lawyers for the company said the fresh financing is the “keystone” of its strategy to assure project owners and others that it can complete all of its open construction projects.
Mortgage Delinquencies Increase Following Hurricanes
The three major hurricanes that caused so much devastation during August and September was largely responsible for the third-quarter increase in mortgage delinquencies, NationalMortgageNews.com reported. The seasonally adjusted delinquency rate of 4.88 percent was 64 basis points higher than the second quarter, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's National Delinquency Survey. The 30-day delinquency rate was responsible for 50 basis points of that increase, said Marina Walsh, the MBA's vice president of industry analysis, in a press release. Compared with one year ago, delinquencies were 36 basis points higher. Read more.
This year’s hurricane season has become one of the most destructive in recent memory. To provide assistance to those affected and direct others in how you can help, ABI encourages you to visit our Hurricane Relief webpage.
Brookfield Property Bids $14.8 Billion for Rest of Landlord GGP
Brookfield Property Partners LP bid about $14.8 billion to acquire the stake it doesn’t already hold in U.S. mall owner GGP Inc. as the companies seek to repurpose struggling bricks-and-mortar shopping centers, Bloomberg News reported today. The firm offered $23 a share for the 66 percent of GGP it doesn’t own, Brookfield said in a statement on Monday. That represents a premium of about 21 percent to Chicago-based GGP’s closing price on Nov. 6, the day before Bloomberg News reported Brookfield had held discussions about taking the company private. GGP said in a separate statement that its board has formed a special committee to review the proposal. In the third quarter, Brookfield Property exercised all of its outstanding warrants in GGP, bringing its ownership stake to 34 percent from 29 percent, the company said in a statement earlier this month. The 68 million shares were purchased for $462 million.