Macerich confirmed on its third-quarter earnings call last week that it has defaulted on $399 million in mall loans across two properties, adding fresh detail to a triage strategy the Santa Monica, California-based REIT has been executing quietly for nearly two years.
CEO Jackson Hsieh disclosed the defaults plainly during the November 5 call, acknowledging a $74 million default on the Fashion Outlets of Niagara Falls in western New York, which went into default on October 6, and a $325 million default on Fresno Fashion Fair in California’s Central Valley, which defaulted on November 2. Those two properties join Twenty Ninth Street in Boulder, Colorado — a $76 million loan default announced earlier — giving Macerich a combined $475 million in reported mall debt defaults across its ongoing portfolio restructuring.
Hsieh declined to elaborate on the specifics, citing ongoing lender negotiations. “I can’t really talk too much about these mortgages that are in default,” he told analysts, according to Bisnow. “Lenders are listening or whatever, it’s not very fair. So let’s just say we are in default. We’re still having conversations, and we’ll let you know when we got more to say, but that’s what it is.”…