More Bad News for Retail REITs

Seeking Alpha's Housing Tracker is a collection of housing-related excerpts from various sources, grouped by topic. Feel free to post any interesting links on the subject in the comments section below.

Overview

Malls around the nation are struggling with debt and vacancies against the backdrop of a significant slowdown in consumer spending. Reports from South Florida, Georgia and Arkansas below show things are getting worse.

Tenants Tough To Find For New Retail Shopping Projects. “Retail developers across South Florida are scrambling to fill shopping centers as the deteriorating economy has merchants closing or cutting back on expansion plans. Three large projects in Broward County have yet to announce anchor tenants. Centers also are going up in Palm Beach County, but developers concede that leasing is as difficult now as it has been in years.” (Sun Sentinel, Oct. 19)

Lighstone's Macon Mall Going On the Auction Block Next Month. “Lightstone Group's Macon Mall, a 1.4-million-square-foot mall in Macon, GA, is scheduled to be on the auction block on Nov. 4, as Lightstone has reportedly defaulted on a $141.2 million loan held by LaSalle National Bank that was secured with the Macon Mall, as well as its 431,000-square-foot Burlington Mall in Burlington, NC. Lightstone purchased the two malls in summer 2005 from Colonial Properties Group -- Macon Mall was acquired for $133.5 million and Burlington Mall was acquired for $32.5M.” (CoStar Group, Oct. 14)

Barber Agrees To Foreclosure Of Springdale Office Building.  Arkansas: A judge signed a consent judgment and decree of foreclosure Wednesday against Springdale developer Brandon Barber... Judicial Circuit Judge Kim Smith grants a $ 2.3M judgment in favor of Citimortgage Inc., which financed Barber's Old Missouri Office Building LLC. Smith named a receiver in August to manage this 15, 856 square-foot commercial building in Springdale… Proceeds of the sale of the property are not expected to pay off the Citimortgage debt, officials said.” (Northwest Arkansas Times, Oct. 9)

                                   

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