As part of its proposal to pay off about $200 million in Israeli bonds that mature this fall, Related Companies has committed to buy back two properties next year from its bond-issuing subsidiary, if necessary.
The two properties are an office condominium in Time Warner Center and the 900,000-square-foot Bronx Terminal Market power center in the South Bronx.
While the coronavirus shuttered most retailers for months, the Bronx Terminal Market’s anchor tenants — BJ’s Wholesale Club, Home Depot and Target — were deemed “essential,” and remained open. That’s as the pandemic slammed New York City, with the Bronx among the hardest hit.
Now, appraisal data filed with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reveals how much those three retailers and dozens of smaller tenants pay for space in the mall.
The three primary anchor tenants, each with over 100,000 square feet in the complex, pay a total of $12.7 million in rent per year, or about 40 percent of the total. Nine “junior anchors” contribute another $13.7 million in annual rent, and the 15 remaining tenants pay a total of $4.4 million annually.
The appraisal also notes that Amazon recently inked a five-year lease for a vacant parking lot at the property, at $665,000 a year. A short-term license agreement with the Universal Hip Hop Museum — closed until Phase 4 of New York’s reopening — is also not reflected in the rent roll. (The museum plans to open at a separate Bronx Point location in 2023.)
Target — whose rent is listed as a remarkably low $6.09 a foot — made an upfront prepayment of $46.4 million, or 75 percent of its rent for the 25-year term of the lease.
BJ’s Wholesale Club, Home Depot, and Target are among those essential retailers that have seen significant growth in sales and revenue nationwide amid the pandemic, although these gains have been offset somewhat by increasing costs.
The junior anchor tenants at the mall, meanwhile, have seen less positive results. Bed Bath & Beyond saw a 49-percent drop in overall sales in the latest quarter, and says it plans to close 200 stores across the U.S. for good. Chuck E. Cheese’s parent company, CEC Entertainment, filed for bankruptcy last month.
Related built the Bronx Terminal Market, formerly known as the Gateway Center, in 2009 for a reported $360 million — along with $2.6 million in Brownfields tax credits. Related’s Israeli bond-issuing subsidiary, Related Commercial Portfolio, owns a 41 percent stake in the property, while an entity known as BTM Strategic Development Partners LLC owns about 50 percent.