Report: Mall of America owners miss second mortgage payment, now 60 days late

Report: Mall of America misses second mortgage payment, now 60 days late

Business reporter Nick Halter gives reaction on what's next as the Mall of America's owners miss another debt payment.

BLOOMINGTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - The Mall of America owners have missed a second mortgage payment, according to a report, as the ripple impact of the coronavirus pandemic continues to be felt.

Bloomberg News reports the mall's owners are not making its payment this month on its $1.4 billion mortgage, making the mall more than 60 days delinquent.

Between the pandemic and unrest caused by the death of George Floyd, the mall reopened just last week, after months closed.

In May, after the mall missed its first payment, FOX 9 reported that the mall's revenues had dropped by 85 percent during the pandemic. FOX 9 learned the mall was trying to rework its loan but that could be a difficult process.

In an interview with FOX 9, reporter Nick Halter with the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal said under normal circumstances, if the mall faced further financial issues, a lender might consider taking over the property through foreclosure. However, in a pandemic, that might not be the case with the Mall of America.

"In times like now, lenders are not very interested in trying to take over a mall like this," he explained. "They lent the owners of Mall of America, Triple Five, $1.4 billion six years ago. If they had faith in them then, they should probably have faith in them now. A lot of this has been brought up by COVID not by mismanagement of the mall, necessarily."

Halter says if the lender were to foreclose, the mall wouldn't go anywhere. He says a new owner would likely just come in and take over the property.