Shopping mall owner Washington Prime Group, which owns and operates around 100 mid- and low-tier malls in the United States, is potentially preparing a bankruptcy filing.
The company skipped its $23 million interest payment last month, and said that it would use a 30-day grace period to continue negotiations with its lenders. But those talks have allegedly fallen apart, Bloomberg reported this week, and the grace period is almost up.
Washington Prime formed when it spun off from Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the country, in 2014. The Columbus, Ohio–based company acquired Glimcher Realty Trust in 2015, adding to its portfolio of mainly B- and C-rated malls.
Indoor mall operators, and the retail tenants in them, have been especially challenged throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The long-term closures were financially crippling. But even after malls reopened, consumers were reluctant to shop in enclosed environments—and many still are.
Mall owners CBL and Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust both filed for Chapter 11 last year. And major mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield says it’s hoping to pull out of the United States after suffering a 26% slump in net rental income across 2020 and a recurring net profit drop of $1.6 billion. The company plans to downsize its stable of holdings to European properties only.
“We are implementing a program to significantly reduce our financial exposure to the U.S. when the investment market reopens, which should happen with the U.S. economy rebound in 2022,” Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield CEO Jean-Marie Tritant told investors last month.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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