Simon Property Group is JCPenney’s new landlord at Dadeland Mall in Kendall, acquiring the ground lease for the big box store for $15.6 million.
An affiliate of Indianapolis-based Simon, led by David Simon, bought the leasehold interest in the 190,962-square-foot department store at 7201 Kendall Drive, records show. With the purchase, Simon now owns all of Dadeland Mall except for a big box store owned by Macy’s.
The seller, an affiliate of Copper Property CTL Pass Through Trust managed by Hilco Real Estate, bought the JCPenney ground lease in 2021. It was part of its purchase of 160 retail properties from JCPenney, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020. The ground lease covers 12.4 acres on the east side of Dadeland Mall and expires next year. However, JCPenney has options to extend the lease through 2046, court records show.
The Hilco-managed trust placed 121 JCPenney ground leases on the market in February, according to published reports. In October, Doral-based Easton Group paid the trust $12.2 million for a JCPenney store on 12.4 acres at Miami International Mall in Sweetwater. The department store chain’s lease expires in 2040. Simon owns the 303,000-square-foot central component of Miami International Mall. In February, the mall’s $157.4 million commercial mortgage-backed securities loan went into special servicing when a one-year forbearance agreement expired.
Last year, Morningstar issued a report that Miami International Mall’s market value tanked by 59 percent over a 10-year period to $159 million, compared to $391 million in 2014.
The Hilco-managed trust currently owns ground leases for JCPenney stores in Westfield Broward Mall in Plantation and Pembroke Lakes Mall in Pembroke Pines, which is also secured by a $260 million CMBS loan that recently went into special servicing due to a maturity default.
JCPenney is owned by a joint venture between Simon and Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management.
