Cruz tells Globest.com that The Mall at the Source, a 512,528-square-foot enclosed mall, is currently under 30% occupied. The Fortunoff store, which totals 210,798 feet, closed in 2009 and is entirely vacant. At one time, Simon Property Group managed and was an owner of the mall, according to published reports. After the Fortunoff closure, other mall anchors and sub-anchors shut down their respective stores there as well. At press time Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's are among the tenants at the property.

Despite its poor occupancy levels and nearby competition that includes Roosevelt Field and the Gallery at Westbury Plaza, Cruz notes that the offering attracted “well over a dozen bids.”

He adds, “We were very pleased as to the response from REITs, developers, and large institutional retail owners, local developers. In the end, a foreign capital source was most aggressive on pricing and terms,” Cruz says. “The location and demographics were a major driver for this transaction.”

Perhaps drawing investor interest is the property's location within the “Nassau Hub,” commercial submarket. In a three-mile radius of the Mall at the Source there are approximately 143,470 residents earning an average annual household income of more than $124,258.

WESTBURY, NY—A $92-million deal for a troubled nearly three-quarters vacant enclosed shopping mall, along with a loan for an adjoining vacant Fortunoff store here has closed.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. marketed The Mall at the Source and the adjoining Fortunoff anchor store at 1504 Old Country Road. The firm also represented co-sellers LNR Partners, LLC as manager and special servicer for CMAT 99-C1 Old Country Road, LLC a subsidiary of Starwood Property Trust, Inc., and a REMIC trust for which C-III Asset Management LLC was the special servicer in the transaction.

LNR was the special servicer for The Mall at the Source, while C-III was the special servicer for the Fortunoff building, according to Jose Cruz, senior managing director of HFF. Cruz led the HFF team of managing directors Kevin O'Hearn and Chris Phaneuf, directors Michael Oliver and Stephen Simonelli and senior managing director Andrew Scandalios.

The buyer of the property is LESSO America, which according to its website is a wholly owned subsidiary of China LESSO Group Holdings Limited. LESSO America manufactures and delivers high-quality plastic fittings with the latest injection mold tools and technology through distribution centers from coast to coast. According to a story published in Long Island Business News, the new owner plans to use a portion of the property as a showroom for its products. The property, which sits on 38 acres, also includes a four-story parking garage with 2,813 spaces and 1,025 surface parking spaces.

Cruz tells Globest.com that The Mall at the Source, a 512,528-square-foot enclosed mall, is currently under 30% occupied. The Fortunoff store, which totals 210,798 feet, closed in 2009 and is entirely vacant. At one time, Simon Property Group managed and was an owner of the mall, according to published reports. After the Fortunoff closure, other mall anchors and sub-anchors shut down their respective stores there as well. At press time Cheesecake Factory and P.F. Chang's are among the tenants at the property.

Despite its poor occupancy levels and nearby competition that includes Roosevelt Field and the Gallery at Westbury Plaza, Cruz notes that the offering attracted “well over a dozen bids.”

He adds, “We were very pleased as to the response from REITs, developers, and large institutional retail owners, local developers. In the end, a foreign capital source was most aggressive on pricing and terms,” Cruz says. “The location and demographics were a major driver for this transaction.”

Perhaps drawing investor interest is the property's location within the “Nassau Hub,” commercial submarket. In a three-mile radius of the Mall at the Source there are approximately 143,470 residents earning an average annual household income of more than $124,258.