Banks, real estate investors circle Mall of America

JPMorgan, Goldman set to assume 49% stake in megamall

Mall of America with JPMorgan Chase' Jamie Dimon (left) and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon (Getty)
Mall of America with JPMorgan Chase' Jamie Dimon (left) and Goldman Sachs' David Solomon (Getty)

A group of banks and real estate investors is poised to take over a chunk of Triple Five Group’s Mall of America in Minneapolis.

JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and others are in the final stages of securing a minority stake in the property, according to the Financial Times.

In 2017, Triple Five put a 49 percent stake in the Mall of America and the West Edmonton Mall in Canada as collateral to secure the $1.2 billion construction loan needed to build its American Dream megamall in New Jersey.

JPMorgan was the largest lender on the loan, which was also backed by Goldman, iStar and Starwood Capital Group. But the number of lenders involved has complicated the restructuring process, although the deal is set to close as early as this week, according to the report.

The Ghermezian family, the entity behind Triple Five, will continue to own a majority stake in the property.

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The negotiations are the latest in a saga surrounding the American Dream mall. It was pitched as a major tourist destination, given its proximity to Midtown Manhattan, but it ran into financial trouble soon after breaking ground in 2004. The pandemic only complicated matters.

Earlier this month, it was reported that even executives of the company had their doubts about the survival of the project.

“It would have been much better if American Dream would have burned down or a hurricane had hit it, financially, because we would have been covered by insurance,” Kurt Hagen, an executive at Triple Five, said at a city council meeting in Bloomington, Minnesota.

[FT] — Sasha Jones