The Broadbent Co., the retail real estate developer that spent much of last year battling lenders in court, has sold one of its prime properties.
Broadbent recently sold the building that houses Kohl’s department store at Fashion Mall Commons for $15.3 million, or about $177 per square foot, according to a CoStar Group report.
The 86,634-square-foot building at East 86th Street and Union Chapel Road was built in 1997. The Kohl’s lease runs through 2023, said Susan Brixius, a representative in the New York office of Marcus & Millichap, the firm that represented the buyers.
The sale, to James Huck LLC of Marietta, Ohio, and Arloma Corp. of Santa Barbara, Calif., did not involve the multi-tenant portion of Fashion Mall Commons, which comprises about 160,000 square feet.
Brixius said she did not think the sale was forced by Broadbent’s lenders. Representatives of Broadbent could not be reached to comment on the sale.
Brokers with no knowledge of the financial details of the Kohl’s lease said it would appear the new owners got the property for a price typical in the hot Keystone at the Crossing trade area.
Jeffrey Merritt, a broker with Summit Realty Group, said the location and the long-term Kohl’s lease would have made the property attractive to buyers.
“Kohl’s is a great credit. They’re going to pay their rent wherever they are,” said Merritt. Buying a single-tenant building further reduces risk for investors in the property, he said.
The price paid for the Kohl’s space is more than Broadbent might expect to get from its downtown headquarters at 117 E. Washington Street. That three-story building with office and retail space was for sale as recently as last summer as the developer tried to stave off foreclosure proceedings initiated by Huntington and PNC banks. It was appraised at $6.5 million last April.
Huntington and PNC had previously won four court judgments against Broadbent totaling $17.3 million over unpaid loans the banks had made for Broadbent’s retail developments.
Broadbent, a prolific developer of retail strip centers, is among many such companies that have struggled to pay debt since the country’s 2008 financial crisis.
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