CW Capital, on behalf of CMBS GS 2006-GG8, has filed to foreclose on the $79 million first mortgage underlying Cocowalk, located in Coconut Grove Florida. New Orleans-based PMAT Real Estate Investments acquired the center in 2006 for $87 million, or about $443 psf, from Thor Equities.
The property recently boasted retailers such as the the Cheesecake Factory, Starbucks, AMC Theaters, the GAP. But, AMC’s lease was terminated in upon its expiration in September of this year and a Muvico-branded theater is expected to open in April 2010.
Adam Greenberg, managing director of Miami-based Baybridge Real Estate Group is voiced his opinion of the deal in South Florida’s Business Journal. “The price per square foot paid for Cocowalk was way too high. The loan-to-value ratio, based on the $80 million mortgage PMAT obtained after buying Cocowalk, was extremely aggressive, he added. ‘You’ve got to wonder what investor signed off on something like that,’ Greenberg said.
‘So you’ve got an all right business plan and retail center at Cocowalk and then three other retail centers come that are drawing from that market,’ Greenberg said. ‘The night life wasn’t such a draw that it could support everything else. Traffic is a mess. A lot of people don’t want to pay for garage parking.’”
Greenberg expects that Cocowalk’s current market value is less than $50 million.
