In a $16,510,000 million ground lease agreement, Hilco Real Estate has acquired 92,524 square feet of land beneath a JCPenney in Tukwila, Wash. The 255,534-square-foot department store is located at 1249 Southcenter Mall.
An entity associated with GLAS Trust Company LLC, an appointed trustee in connection with the court-approved sale of the operating JCPenney businesses, was listed as the grantor, according to public documents.
According to a news release on GLAS Trust Company’s website, the closing of the sale was announced by J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc., in December. This was shortly after the department store announced it would be filing for bankruptcy in May.
Both Hilco Real Estate and GLAS Trust Company LLC did not respond in time for publication of this story.
Currently, no plans for redevelopment at the site have been announced and the Tukwila location remains open and operating despite the department store facing mass closures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nationwide, the retail industry suffered throughout much of 2020, according to a market report by Cushman and Wakefield.
In the fourth quarter of 2020, the vacancy rate for retail stores nationwide totaled 7.2%, and net absorption totaled negative 2.7 million square feet, according to the report. In comparison, the report showed a 6.4% vacancy rate in the fourth quarter of 2019. Rental rates, however, showed very little change across the nation, according to the report. At the end of the fourth quarter, rental rates were at $20.91 per square foot.
Despite this, the report also showed that the market could improve for the retail industry in 2021 due to the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. In particular, the report anticipates change in the second half of 2021 as the U.S. continues to re-open.
