Long Island investors buy Hicksville mall off discount rack 

Kenneth Schuckman and his fellow investors are hoping they found the best sale imaginable at Hickville’s Broadway Commons: the mall itself.

The BTF Capital founder and a group of partners mostly based in the region came together to purchase the Long Island mall at 358 North Broadway, Newsday reported. A purchase price wasn’t disclosed, but sources told the outlet it traded for $40 million — less than half of what it went for six years ago.

The property was part of a larger, $94 million purchase by private equity giant KKR in 2014, which divided its acquisition into six parcels, brought in 25 new tenants, and sold the retail properties at a profit. KKR sold five parcels in 2017 for about $60 million and unloaded what is now the core mall property in 2018 at a more than $90 million valuation, a spokesperson told The Real Deal.

A three-partner joint venture operating as K/BTF Broadway LLC became the mall’s owners when the deal closed on Thursday. The other owners include New Jersey-based KABR Group and a joint venture formed between Long Island-based AJM Real Estate and Burman Real Estate.

Swiss investment bank UBS Group AG sold the mall to the tri-state investors. Los Angeles-based Pacific Capital Retail Partners operated the property. Neither company could be reached for comment.

Schuckman didn’t detail plans for the 1.1 million-square-foot property, but appears poised to upgrade its retail options, rather than follow the paths of many mall owners in recent years who have sought to redevelop their properties as mixed-use complexes with residential components.

“We know retailers who are interested [in leasing space] for sure,” Schuckman told Newsday.

Macy’s and Old Navy are among the significant tenants who have departed in recent years, the latter leaving behind 17,000 square feet last June. Target and Long Island’s lone IKEA anchor the mall, but both retailers own their own buildings.

The mall’s origins date back to 1956, when it was an open-air shopping center for a dozen years before being enclosed. Vornado Realty Trust purchased it in 2005 for $152.5 million before selling it to KKR nine years later. It’s unclear when UBS emerged as owner of the mall, which was rechristened Broadway Commons in 2017.

This article has been updated with details of KKR’s investment in the mall and surrounding properties.

— Holden Walter-Warner

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