The Fall of the Malls Rolls Along - Southland Next?

[Lowell]

Northland, Eastland, Summit Place, Lakeside...and now Southland? Fairlane and Partridge Creek are seemingly in hospice. The more I think about it, the more this quietly profound of a revolution to the physical landscape and the way we engage in commerce becomes to me. The thousands of jobs, lives and businesses upended by this slow-rolling disruption brings a mix of sadness and nostalgia.

Crain's reports on Southland's dire debt situation.

The Southland Center shopping mall is nearly underwater on its commercial mortgage-backed securities debt, the latest sign of distress at the Taylor property at 23000 Eureka Rd.

Data provided by New York City-based Trepp LLC, which tracks CMBS loans, shows that the mall was appraised for $66.9 million in September, after it went into special servicing, and owes $64.5 million on its $78.75 million Barclay's loan from 2012.

Special servicer Rialto Capital Advisors LLC was appointed to the 52-year-old mall in June, Trepp data shows; Wells Fargo was the master servicer. Master servicers are generally tasked with collecting monthly payments, while special servicers are generally brought in upon default, which the owner did in June.

[Danny]

Southland Mall is doing alright. It's anchor stores, Macy's JCPenney, Best Buy are still in business. That includes Cinemark Next Gen Theaters. It's not closing down anytime soon. It just needs a food court.

If the owner is a serious debt. Sell the mall right away.

[Burnsie]

Very interesting. Regrettable news, but I also think about how those malls killed off older stores-- everything from Downtown Hudson's to tiny shoe stores.

But yes, the shift from malls to online shopping & endless Amazon warehouses has been infinitely more earthshaking than the shift from downtowns to malls. Regardless of whether they cater to car culture & sprawl, malls and all stores at their core essence comprise in-person vendors selling to in-person buyers. That's a tradition that began in Asia Minor over 7,000 years ago and won't vanish completely as long as a semblance of human civilization exists.

[casscorridor]

I went to Southland Macy's last year and it was looking really run down and grubby. The carpets had obvious stains everywhere I looked, the displays were falling apart and wood shelving was scratched and chipped. Not to mention merchandise just thrown around randomly. I was surprised how a brand like Macy's lets their stores fall into such a state of disrepair. The Mall itself looked like it was frozen in time in the 80s and the surrounding area looked generally run down and uninviting. Not surprised to hear it's on its last legs.

[Henry Whalley]

Very interesting. Regrettable news, but I also think about how those malls killed off older stores-- everything from Downtown Hudson's to tiny shoe stores.

Downtown was so beautiful at Christmas. The Salvation Army band outside of Hudson's near the Woodward bus stop is a sweet memory. Hamtramck was nicely decorated at Christmas, too.

[401don]

Downtown was so beautiful at Christmas. The Salvation Army band outside of Hudson's near the Woodward bus stop is a sweet memory. Hamtramck was nicely decorated at Christmas, too.

Have you been down recently? The city and Gilbert have done a nice job on Woodward & CMart.

[Henry Whalley]

Have you been down recently? The city and Gilbert have done a nice job on Woodward & CMart.

Honestly, I haven't been down in years. It seems artificial to me. Like a theme park.

[mtburb]

I was just at Southland on Friday and it had lots of foot traffic, and I counted only 6 vacancies in the entire mall - half of which were in the Cinemark wing, although COVID is most likely to blame for that wing's [[re)downfall. The Macy's store apparently is undergoing a remodel, as Backstage moved down a floor and a new Toys "R" Us section was set up right next to it.

[Margaret's boy]

I noticed construction cranes behind Tecumseh mall in Windsor. The mall owners are trying to bring life to the decrepit mall by building condos on the mall property. Too bad they didn't spend any money on the mall interior, which looks like it hasn't been updated in 50 years.