Plano’s Shops at Willow Bend is late on its loan payment

Since Starwood Retail purchased the mall in 2014, it tore down a closed Saks Fifth Avenue and built an outdoor restaurant area

The Shops at Willow Bend, a mall that has added a new restaurant wing and non-retail tenants including the Crayola Experience and Equinox fitness center, is 60 days behind on its loan payment.

The Plano mall has struggled since it opened in 2001 and was sold to Starwood Retail Partners in 2014, which turned around and spent $150 million trying to reinvent the experience.

Willow Bend’s unpaid balance of $65.7 million is listed among a group of malls that together secured a $161 million loan that has an unpaid balance of $137.7 million.

“We are actively working to extend and restructure our financing at The Shops at Willow Bend," Starwood said in an emailed statement. "In the meantime, it is business as usual at the property as we continue to work hard executing our repositioning plans.”

The delinquency was in a report issued by Trepp LLC, a firm that specializes in commercial mortgage-based securities. The loan is marked as nonperforming after passing its two-year, extended maturity date in November, said Trepp analyst Catherine Liu.

Starwood has indicated that it may pursue additional modifications or extensions on the loan and the loan will likely be transferred back to Midland, which is listed as the special servicer of the mortgage security originally sold by Morgan Stanley, Liu said.

The other malls are Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Mich., and Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, Va.

The Plano mall, built in 2001 just a year after Stonebriar Centre opened a few miles north in Frisco, is anchored by Dillard’s, Macy’s, Neiman Marcus and the Crayola Experience.

Willow Bend was one of seven shopping centers that Taubman, the original developer of the mall, sold in 2014 for $1.4 billion. Taubman said those shopping centers weren’t as productive as the company’s other properties.

Taubman, the original developer, also sank millions of dollars into the property, tearing down a department store and adding furniture stores including Crate & Barrel and Restoration Hardware.

Twitter: @MariaHalkias

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