Brookfield has lined up a $360 million refinance of its 1.53 million-square-foot Willowbrook mall that serves shoppers in the New York City and Northern New Jersey metropolitan areas.
The loan will pay off the impending maturity of an 11-year-old loan on the property. And it comes as the mall saw its sales last year surpass total sales in 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic wiped out the viability of many regional malls across the country.
German American Capital and Citi Real Estate are expected to co-originate the loan in the first week of March. Deutsche Mortgage plans to roll out a new commercial mortgage-backed securities offering holding the loan, according to presale analysis of the CMBS deal by Fitch Ratings.
The five-year loan with a fixed interest rate is set to require interest-only monthly payments. The debt will be backed by about half of the mall’s square footage. Anchor tenants owning their space make up the remainder of the mall.
Willowbrook in Wayne, New Jersey, is about 20 miles from midtown Manhattan at the intersection of three major highways: Interstate 80, State Route 23 and U.S. Route 46.
The property, including its anchors, reported strong overall 12-month sales of about $498.4 million through October, according to Fitch. That total surpassed the 2019 sales total of $484.6 million.
Notably, the Macy’s store at Willowbrook reported 2023 sales of $85.9 million, far exceeding the department store chain’s national average sales per store of $23.2 million, according to Fitch.
One year ago, the strength of mall and anchor store sales helped lure J.C. Penney away from an adjacent shopping center to a previously vacant Lord & Taylor space at Willowbrook.
In September 2023, Brookfield purchased the remaining interest in the former Sears at Willowbrook. The company invested over $40 million to reconfigure the store and lined up several new tenants at the space, including BJ’s Wholesale Club, Dave & Buster’s, D1 Sports Training and Yard House Restaurant, according to Fitch. BJ’s also invested about $11 million of its own capital into its space.
Cushman & Wakefield appraised the property this month, determining an “as-is” value of $608.4 million, according to Fitch. That is less than the 2013 appraisal of $625 million, according to CoStar data.
Brookfield did not immediately respond to CoStar News' request for comment.