The valuation for about two-thirds of Simon Property Group’s Crystal Mall in Waterford, Connecticut was slashed 87 percent to just $18.7 million, a sign of just how bad things are for many suburban shopping centers.
About 518,000 square feet of the property backed a $95 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan, according to Trepp. With the new appraisal, the loan-to-value ratio comes to an eye-popping 508 percent, meaning the mall’s debt is worth about five times more than a majority of the mall.
That piece of the property was appraised at $153 million in 2012.
The appraisal reduction is hardly a surprise: A report from Kroll Bond Rating Agency in November noted that Simon was planning to hand over the keys to the Crystal Mall, along with three other shopping centers, to its lenders.