Connecticut shopping center lists for $30M less than a year after its sale

UPDATED Mar. 1, 10:26 a.m.

A little less than one year after acquiring Brass Mill Commons in Waterbury, the new owner has put it back on the market, listing the outdoor shopping center for $30 million, CT Insider reported.

Kohan Retail Investment Group purchased the Commons and the adjacent Brass Mill Center mall from Brookfield Properties for $45 million — $26 million for the Commons and $19 million for the mall — in the spring of 2022. Kohan specializes in purchasing distressed malls and turning them around by populating them with bungee jumping machines.

The 200,000-square-foot Commons, which sits on just over 19 acres, counts Barnes & Noble, TJ Maxx, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Buffalo Wild Wings and Michaels as its tenants.

Forged Real Estate has the listing for the Commons, which is the more successful of the two properties, Waterbury Mayor Neil M. O’Leary told the Republican-American a year ago. 

O’Leary didn’t mince words concerning the mall’s difficulties over the past decade.

“The Brass Mill Commons is a thriving center and has done remarkably well,” O’Leary said. “That mall has struggled for years. Urban malls like it have struggled for many, many years, even before online shopping. The Commons, successful. Across the street, not so successful. … The Brass Mill mall is suffering from what most malls are suffering from, not only in Connecticut, but across America. People are shopping online. There are several different malls in Connecticut that have sold in recent years for dramatically less than what they were valued at because they are empty. Such is the case in this case.”

The Commons isn’t the only property Kohan has put on the market. In the fall, Kohan sold the Great Northern Mall in Clay, New York, after being sued by Onondaga County for $5 million in unpaid taxes. The county moved to foreclose on the property before Kohan sold it. 

— Ted Glanzer

Update: A previous version of this article included an incorrect photo reference. That photo has been removed.