HFF Brings Deutsche to Square One Mall

SAUGUS — They have both been on a nauseating rollercoaster ride during the past decade, but retail real estate and securitized debt have united at the Square One Mall through a permanent refinancing of the shopping center from a securitized lender, an affiliate of Deutsche Bank. Holliday Fengolio Fowler arranged the 10-year instrument that HFF will also sub-service.

Working on behalf of Mayflower Square One LLC, HFF placed the fixed-rate loan that replaces maturing debt on the property. The ownership in Mayflower Square One LLC includes Simon Property Group, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America and the Canadian Pension Plan. The HFF team working on its refinancing includes Executive Managing Director John Pelusi, Managing Director Claudia Steeb and Director Lauren O’Neil.

Presently teeming with holiday shoppers as Christmas approaches, the Square One Mall is located directly along Route One about nine miles north of downtown Boston. The property is populated by such top retailers as American Eagle Outfitters, Best Buy, H&M, Macy’s, Old Navy, Sears and T.J. Maxx. The normally vibrant North Shore retail corridor was beset by store closings in the recession, with KeyPoint Partners estimating a 23 percent vacancy rate for all of eastern Massachusetts in 2009. That figure has since ebbed, and the loan at Square One Mall offers further hope for continued gains.

Market watchers have also been eagerly anticipating the return of securitized capital to the lending arena, with that capital source virtually wiped out by the disastrous CRE crash and debt crisis. Members of HFF’s Boston team have previously said they anticipate the funding avenue would open up over time, although the recovery has been at times spotty due to outside forces, including this summer’s global plunge and stock market hiccups.