The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)

One CT mall for sale, another doubling down

- By Alexander Soule Includes prior reporting by Currie Engel, Leeanne Griffin, Julia Perkins, Rob Ryser, Paul Schott and Luther Turmelle. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman

As the owner of a Bridgeport­area mall solicits buyers, Danbury Fair’s is lining up a new, $185 million mortgage on the property — a vote of confidence given multiple gaping vacancies it has yet to fill in its store lineup.

Macerich is among the 10 largest retail operators nationally, managing about 48 million square feet across nearly 50 malls and shopping centers. Danbury Fair is the company’s lone Connecticu­t mall, at the junction of Interstate 84 and Route 7 a few miles from the New York border.

The COVID-19 pandemic hit as Macerich faced a loan secured by Danbury Fair coming due in October 2020, which it was able to extend three times through this July. As of March, Macerich reported the outstandin­g balance at $166 million, with the company averaging just over $1.5 million a month in interest on the mortgage.

The city of Danbury last appraised the 178-acre property at $418 million, not including a trio of department store pads owned by other companies worth $21 million more.

With executives noting earlier this month the company’s negotiatio­ns for a new, five-year mortgage, Macerich is signaling a renewed commitment to Danbury Fair. Macerich has bounced back well from the pandemic, with Danbury Fair busy this spring on many days and the company reporting record sales per square foot for retail tenants in March.

“It’s interestin­g to note that on a national level, March was the first month since the pandemic hit that online sales declined from the same period a year ago — while in-store sales actually rose,” said Doug Healey, executive vice president of leasing for Macerich, speaking earlier this month on a conference call. “Given the mood and health of the retailers, the resurgence and importance of bricks-and-mortar stores, the depth and breadth of uses that we have to choose from, I have no reason to believe this is going to end any time soon.”

Already saddled with a few stubborn vacancies for spacious storefront­s once housing Sears and Forever 21, Danbury Fair got hit with another after the 2020 holidays with the bankruptcy closure of Lord & Taylor.

But the mall was able to land a replacemen­t tenant for Brio Tuscan Grille in Barbarie’s Grill — a co-owner told Hearst Connecticu­t Media “we rolled the dice” in taking on the lease early into the pandemic — and in the past several months Danbury Fair has added two new freestandi­ng restaurant­s in Shake Shack and Longhorn Steakhouse, as well as Golf Lounge 18 in space emptied by Red Robin. Opposite Golf Lounge 18, another storefront is getting fitted out for Danbury Family Diner.

Across Backus Avenue fronting Danbury Fair, a drive-thru restaurant is planned that has yet to be identified by name, where Pier 1 store shuttered its Danbury store.

Inside the mall, the lights remain out at two dual-level storefront­s once occupied by Arhaus and Safavieh Home Furnishing­s. Macerich has added “creative office space” to the list of possible mall tenants in an online lease listing.

Built in 1986, Danbury Fair had been Connecticu­t’s newest mall until the 2019 opening of The SoNo Collection in Norwalk.

Multiple Connecticu­t mall owners have opted to sell leading up to the pandemic and afterward, with properties changing hands including the Meriden Mall, Stamford Town Center and The SoNo Collection whose developer Brookfield Properties flipped its majority stake to outside investors while continuing to manage the property.

The Westfield Trumbull mall could be next on the block, with its Australia-based owner recently confirming it is moving ahead with plans to divest the entirety of its 29 shopping centers in the United States.

 ?? Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticu­t Media ?? Shoppers at Danbury Fair mall in Danbury on Black Friday in November 2021. Danbury Fair is lining up a new, $185 million mortgage on the property
Ned Gerard / Hearst Connecticu­t Media Shoppers at Danbury Fair mall in Danbury on Black Friday in November 2021. Danbury Fair is lining up a new, $185 million mortgage on the property

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