The Collateral Damage of Sears

December 2, 2016
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The largest specially serviced loan is the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills Loan ($133 million -- 18% of the pool), which is secured by an 880,000 square foot collateral portion of a super-regional mall located in Tarentum, Pennsylvania. The mall's financial performance has declined sharply in recent years, largely mirroring a decline in overall occupancy. The departure of anchor tenant Sears in late 2015 triggered co-tenancy clauses at the property causing several inline tenant leases to become percentage leases, further contributing to the decline in performance. The mall is currently 57% occupied, down from 88% as recently as December 2014. The servicer is the pursuing foreclosure and expects the property to become REO.

Domino Theory

Finally, you have broader considerations that might follow what you would call the "falling domino" principle. You have a row of dominoes set up, you knock over the first one, and what will happen to the last one is the certainty that it will go over very quickly. So you could have a beginning of a disintegration that would have the most profound influences. - Dwight D. Eisenhower

Crazy theory. Totally debunked. Everyone knows a chain is always as strong as its strongest link.