Walton Street Capital’s mall sale highlights retail market woes

The Hoffman Estates shopping center sold for 30% below what the Walton Street-led venture paid five years ago

Location of the Poplar-Prairie Stone Crossing and Walton Street Capital CEO, Neil Bluhm (Credit: Google Maps and Getty Images)
Location of the Poplar-Prairie Stone Crossing and Walton Street Capital CEO, Neil Bluhm (Credit: Google Maps and Getty Images)

Malls around the country are a dying breed, and Walton Street Capital’s latest sale highlights their potential for extinction.

A venture led by the Chicago-based real estate investment firm sold Poplar-Prairie Stone Crossing mall in Hoffman Estates for 30 percent below what it paid for the property five years ago, according to Crain’s.

A group led by Alabama-based Harbert Management paid $32.3 million for the 317,000-square-foot mall, well below the $46.6 million the Walton Street venture paid, according to the report. The mall is about 75 percent occupied, after its largest tenant, Sports Authority, vacated, Crain’s reported.

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Walton Street has been selling off chunks of its property around the Chicago area recently, including a portion of retail space on Michigan Avenue in May.

Chicago’s retail vacancy rate has also been rising, and last year, it was at its highest rate in nearly a decade.

Retail chains like Sears, Barneys and numerous others have closed hundreds of stores amid rising rents and the ecommerce’s continued strength. [Crain’s]Jacqueline Flynn