Pyramid Management Group is going through hard times with much of its portfolio, but it received a lifeline for its Crossgates properties in New York.
Pyramid landed more than $200 million in financing for a pair of retail properties, the Times Union reported. The financing is split between $193 million for the Crossgates Mall in Guilderland and $13.8 million for the Crossgates Commons shopping center in Albany.
Both of the deals take the form of five-year finance loans. The developer said in a release announcing the deal that the financing “enables Pyramid to reinvest in the properties, ensuring their vitality, vibrancy and sustained success in the market.”
It’s not clear who the lender is for the properties and if it’s the same lender for each of them. Each retail complex, however, has endured challenges in recent years.
In August 2023, an unidentified lender purchased $243 million in mortgage debt backed by the Crossgates Mall at auction. The debt was sold at a big discount and bondholders lost $100 million in the deal, according to Trepp.
The debt had been downgraded in March of that year, two months before the Syracuse-based developer defaulted on three mortgages tied to the mall.
Anchors at the mall include Macy’s, JCPenney, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Primark and Best Buy. REI and Crunch Fitness are among the recent additions and Ashley Furniture is scheduled to open an outpost next year; the property is 90 percent occupied, according to Pyramid chief executive officer Stephen Congel.
Meanwhile, New York City-based real estate lender Argentic provided a 10-year loan to refinance the Crossgates Commons debt in 2022.
In the last year, Pyramid lost the Aviation Mall in Queensbury, New York, and the Hampshire Mall in Hadley, Massachusetts, to foreclosure. This fall, a loan tied to its Palisades Mall in Rockland County was settled with significant losses for securities holders.
— Holden Walter-Warner
Read more
Buyer snaps up $243M Crossgates Mall debt
Pyramid lands refi to keep shopping center afloat
Palisades Center mall wipes out bondholders
