Lender Takes Control Of Miami-Area Mall With $2,600 Foreclosure Auction Credit Bid
A Miami-area mall has been seized by its lender, which won a Feb. 10 foreclosure auction with a $2,600 credit bid, the South Florida Business Journal reported.
Wells Fargo Bank, trustee for the CMBS trust that issued the loan for the 977K SF Southland Mall in Cutler Bay, Florida, filed a foreclosure lawsuit in June and won a judgment of $68.7M in principal and interest. The auction was scheduled after the court ruling was handed down.
Investcorp's $65M commercial mortgage-backed securities loan, issued in 2014, went into special servicing in April 2020. As the coronavirus pandemic was bearing down and tenants struggled, Investcorp decided to let the property go, The Real Deal reported last year.
The mall had been owned by a subsidiary of Investcorp, a global firm with headquarters in Bahrain and $35B in assets under management. Investcorp reportedly bought the mall for $145M in 2007.
The mall was largely destroyed by Hurricane Andrew in 1992 and rebuilt the following year. It now has nearly 100 tenants, including anchors Macy's, JCPenney, TJ Maxx and Ross. A Kmart store closed in 2017 and a Sears closed in early 2020.
Jeremy Larkin, co-chairman of commercial brokerage NAI Miami, who wasn't involved in the deal, told the Miami Herald that the mall has redevelopment potential considering the population in Cutler Bay has grown 15% over the past decade.
In 2017, The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills Mall sold for $100 at auction in a similar credit bid situation. That mall subsequently sold for $11.3M in 2018.
