HADLEY, Mass. — Holders of the mortgage on Hadley’s Hampshire Mall have started foreclosure proceedings, following a pattern at other Pyramid-owned properties around the county that were refinanced at the last minute.
A legal notice appearing Wednesday in the Daily Hampshire Gazette set a potential auction for 11 a.m. June 20 at the mall at 367-375 Russell St. In a report, the Gazette noted the current $19 million tax assessment is about half the $37 million valuation that the town put on the property in 2010.
Pyramid, based in Syracuse, New York, also owns the Holyoke Mall at Ingleside.
Neither the corporate headquarters nor Lynn Gray, general manager and leasing representative at both the Hadley and Holyoke malls, responded to calls for comment Wednesday.
Documents filed at the Hampshire County Registry of Deeds did not say how much is owed on the mortgage, which dates back to 2011. But the mortgage was recently sold, according to another deeds filing, by a subsidiary of Deutsche Bank to Florida-based Rialto Capital USA.
The foreclosure fits a pattern for owner Pyramid, which also faced foreclosure at Crossgates Mall near Albany, New York, and Palisades Center in West Nyack, New York, as well as in Houston.
In December, Pyramid announced a five-year-extension on its loan for Crossgates.
Malls have had to reinvent themselves in recent years, after the pandemic and rise of online shopping. In news releases, Gray highlights attractions that are entertainment, not shopping, like restaurants, bowling, roller skating, laser tag, Cinemark movie theaters and Planet Fitness. The mall is also home to JCPenney, Dick’s sporting goods and Target, among other stores.
But Target owns its own space, a common arrangement at malls.
In an outparcel, Trader Joe’s is also part of the mall.
Built in 1974, according to town records, the Hampshire Mall totals nearly half a million square feet.
Pyramid is facing a June 6 deadline to extend more than $450 million in mortgage loans on its gigantic Destiny USA mall in Syracuse, New York.
The mortgages are part of a total debt of more than $700 million on Destiny, which has struggled in recent years with the loss of most of its big anchor stores, including JCPenney, Lord & Taylor, Best Buy, Sport Authority and, soon, At Home.
Malls around the country, and region, are eyed for redevelopment. In Springfield, the Eastfield Mall has been demolished, except for the Sears building, and will be rebuilt into Springfield Crossing with a new slate of retailers.
Enfield Square Mall in Connecticut is in the process of being sold, and its new owners have proposed a massive $250 million redevelopment that could include apartments.
