Foreclosing On The Palisades Center

WEST NYACK, NY — The holder of a massive mortgage on the Palisades Center wants to foreclose, and filed a complaint in New York State Supreme Court Feb. 10 to get the process started.

The original principal amount was $418.5 million loaned to EklecCo NewCo LLC in 2016.

According to court papers, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the mall's owners, the Syracuse-based Pyramid Companies, asked the bank to agree to a temporary moratorium on scheduled monthly payments and certain reserve deposits that were due. The two created a "standstill agreement" June 19, 2020, which gave the mall's owners an extension of the maturity date of the loan to Oct. 9, and then a "forebearance agreement" which ended Nov. 8.

The 2.2 million-square-foot Palisades Center, the 12th-largest mall in the country in terms of leasable space, only began returning to pre-pandemic hours in January. SEE: Palisades Center Expands Hours Of Operation

In November, the mall was appraised at $217 million, according to real estate data analysis firm Trepp. That's a quarter of its assessed value in 2016.

Wilmington Trust filed suit against a handful of Pyramid entities with financial interests in the mall and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, just in case there are outstanding taxes.

They have less than a month to respond.

According to the court documents, Wilmington Trust wants to sell the mall as a whole, "in a single public sale." Until then, it asked the court to put the mall in receivership and direct all tenants to pay rent to the appointed receiver.

Locals are watching the mall's financial problems with concern. Despite controversies over its size, expansion proposals and property taxes, it is a valuable part of the region's economy.

"Regardless of how one feels about the mall the unalterable fact is the Palisades Center is a major tax revenue driver for Clarkstown, the school district, and the County of Rockland," County Executive Ed Day told Patch. "It is also one of the premiere tourist destinations in this county, bringing in additional outside revenue that pays for local services."