OT: Paying for parking at Willowbrook Mall?

[DJ Spanky]

When did this start?

Shopping malls are charging for prime parking. It's not going well

“Since when do you have to pay to park at the Willowbrook Mall?” asked one frustrated TikToker.

Most parking spaces at the Wayne, New Jersey, mall are free of charge. But parking in the "preferred" section – one of the coveted 119 spots at the front of the mall – now comes with a price tag.

Signs instruct shoppers to scan a QR code or send a text message to a five-digit number to shell out $2.45 for the first hour and $2 for every hour after that. The cap is $10.45 a day.

 

[koleszar]

I absolutely loath when my wife circles the parking lot to find a closer parking space. She always gets from me, "you know we have two legs and can walk, don't you?" or "Hey, I used to do the 40 yd. dash in 4.98 seconds and I was a lineman, it's really not that far". I can just feel the love as I get the searing stare.

 

[Knight Shift]

I absolutely loath when my wife circles the parking lot to find a closer parking space. She always gets from me, "you know we have two legs and can walk, don't you?" or "Hey, I used to do the 40 yd. dash in 4.98 seconds and I was a lineman, it's really not that far". I can just feel the love as I get the searing stare.

At least you are not forced to place your better half in a shopping cart and push her to the mall entrance when you park "too far" away.

Have not been to a mall in a very long time. Monmouth Mall has been gutted. Freehold feels too far away. Last time we walked through a mall was at last year's Minnesota game only because we were staying in the hotel attached to the Mall of America.

 

[newell138]

I guess they are trying to get the few people who still go to the mall to stop going

 

[ClassOf02v.2]

A dying business model trying desperately to generate revenue somehow I guess.

 

[Knight Shift]

When did this start?

Shopping malls are charging for prime parking. It's not going well

Did you inform the complainer how far the Black lot is to the stadium and you have to pay for that?

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

When did this start?

Shopping malls are charging for prime parking. It's not going well

It was announced around the start of the month. RIP Willowbrook

 

[Fat Koko]

Stupid for NJ malls to charge for parking with the unique NJ exception of Newport Centre located in Jersey City in a high rent district.

The bozos who own and operate Willowbrook bankrupt their properties, including Bridgewater Commons and Woodbridge Center, with shocking regularity.

The most valuable real estate in New Jersey, by total value, is owned by Simon, a company that owns malls. Stock symbol SPG.

SPG's stock price performance blasted to an all time high last month. SPG's 5-year performance is on par with Greg Brown's MSI company and better than New Brunswick based JNJ.

Has anybody at Rutgers reached out to the SPG people? They own billions of property in New Jersey, including the most valuable property in Middlesex, the Menlo Park Mall.

I guess they are trying to get the few people who still go to the mall to stop going

 

[Section124]

They have been doing valet parking and paid lots at Garden State Plaza and Woodbury Commons for quite a few years now.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

They have been doing valet parking and paid lots at Garden State Plaza and Woodbury Commons for quite a few years now.

Garden State Plaza is providing a service for those that chose to use it. Willowbrook is making you pay for parking up front near the mall entrance.

 

[Scarlet4Shore]

You pay at American Dream too.

 

[Zak57]

Bridgewater Mall is always packed. Freehold too. Make are making a little bit of a come back.

 

[Fat Koko]

Bridgewater Mall is always packed. Freehold too. Make are making a little bit of a come back.

Bridgewater Commons went into foreclosure a few years ago. The property had a $300 million mortgage, a debt no honest man could pay to borrow words from a Monmouth County guy. Rent revenue peaked ten years ago at $50 million+ and is now below $40 million. Bad trend. The owner could not get a new loan. The owner who defaulted on the mortgage is the same company charging for parking at Willowbrook and many other of its malls.

Freehold is owned by another company. $399 million mortgage that is due in 2029. This one likely goes into foreclosure too. Nordstrom closing a few years ago confirmed Freehold Raceway is in decline. Bringing in Von Maur, a Midwestern department store nobody in NJ has heard of or will shop at, is a desperate attempt by the mall owner to show lenders the mall is headed in the right direction.

Simon Property Group has quietly taken near complete control of the mall and outlet center business in New Jersey, with the exception of Bergen County. SPG is strangling their competitors and gobbling up their market share. This helps explain why shares of SPG, a company in an industry many left for dead, shot up to an all-time high last month.

 

[Section124]

Garden State Plaza is providing a service for those that chose to use it. Willowbrook is making you pay for parking up front near the mall entrance.

But you can still park for free elsewhere. All the premium parking spots at Woodbury Commons are paid lots. For malls with demand, it's apparent people will pay because those spots are always taken.

 

[-RUFAN4LIFE-]

But you can still park for free elsewhere. All the premium parking spots at Woodbury Commons are paid lots. For malls with demand, it's apparent people will pay because those spots are always taken.

It's why I choose to shop online more and more. Less hassle and idiots to deal with.

 

[rureadyforsomefootball]

The Freehold Raceway Mall has exploded with new restaurants and vendors over the past several years. It's one of the few that are thriving. https://www.google.com/search?gs_ss...:CAoSHENJQUJJaENGTjNWX0Q2Y0QzaTdkN0JlTmU2eGk=

 

[Fat Koko]

The Freehold Raceway Mall has exploded with new restaurants and vendors over the past several years. It's one of the few that are thriving. https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tTP1TdIsSg0KDJgtFI1qLCwTDZOMTFKS7M0NbYwSjW2MqgwMjQ1tTQ0TUw0MrNITDY09RJNK0pNzcjPSVEoSkxOLU-sVMhNzMkBAN-yFYo&q=freehold+raceway+mall&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS921US921&oq=Freehold+Raceway+Mall&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqEwgBEC4YrwEYxwEYsQMYgAQYjgUyDQgAEAAY4wIYsQMYgAQyEwgBEC4YrwEYxwEYsQMYgAQYjgUyEAgCEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQYjgUyEAgDEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQYjgUyEAgEEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQYjgUyEAgFEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQYjgUyEAgGEC4YrwEYxwEYgAQYjgUyBggHEEUYPNIBCTEwNDQ3ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&source=chrome.ob&ie=UTF-8#lpg=cid:CgIgAQ==,ik:CAoSHENJQUJJaENGTjNWX0Q2Y0QzaTdkN0JlTmU2eGk=

If Freehold Raceway was headed in the right direction, then Nordstrom would not have not closed its store there. The mall owner's JV partner sold its 50% stake for $6 million in 2023, a ~95% loss on the investment. Basically, the partner wrote off its Freehold Raceway investment, which totaled over $100 million.

The mortgage is due in 2029 when the mortgage balance will be $386 million. Very unlikely the owner can get a new mortgage for that amount, and even if they can, the interest rate will almost double from the current 3.9%, so instead of paying $15 million of interest expense annually, the interest expense would jump to $25-$30 million, eating up most of the mall's cash flow before the debt service.

The same owner, Macerich, spent hundreds of millions renovating Santa Monica Place in California, Macerich's hometown, and recently handed keys to lender because couldn't refinance the property's $300 million mortgage. Same thing could happen at Freehold Raceway. Let's see what happens in 2029.

 

[koleszar]

If Freehold Raceway was headed in the right direction, then Nordstrom would not have not closed its store there. The mall owner's JV partner sold its 50% stake for $6 million in 2023, a ~95% loss on the investment. Basically, the partner wrote off its Freehold Raceway investment, which totaled over $100 million.

The mortgage is due in 2029 when the mortgage balance will be $386 million. Very unlikely the owner can get a new mortgage for that amount, and even if they can, the interest rate will almost double from the current 3.9%, so instead of paying $15 million of interest expense annually, the interest expense would jump to $25-$30 million, eating up most of the mall's cash flow before the debt service.

The same owner, Macerich, spent hundreds of millions renovating Santa Monica Place in California, Macerich's hometown, and recently handed keys to lender because couldn't refinance the property's $300 million mortgage. Same thing could happen at Freehold Raceway. Let's see what happens in 2029.

OK then why did Dick's move into the Mall for a larger space instead of staying across the street if they thought it was headed in the wrong direction? They just moved into the one of the largest retail spaces in the Mall. Are you saying you're smarter than Dick's marketing and business employees?

 

[Fat Koko]

OK then why did Dick's move into the Mall for a larger space instead of staying across the street if they thought it was dying. They just moved into the one of the largest retail spaces in the Mall. Are you saying you're smarter than Dick's marketing and business employees?

Mall-owner Macerich paid Dick's millions to take the space. Dick's relocated because of $$.

Macerich likely paid Von Maur even more, probably in the 8 figures. These payments are called tenant improvement allowances, supposedly to help new retailers fit out their stores, but in the case of Freehold Raceway, it is Macerich buying leases. Why else would Von Maur open a store in New Jersey?

Macerich is trying to save the mall. The tenants paying most of the rent are the small shop retailers. These leases have co-tenancy clauses that allow for lower rent or lease termination if anchor boxes are dark. Sort of like how Jersey Mike's can terminate its naming rights agreement if Rutgers leaves the Big Ten.

The Freehold Raceway owner will pay millions to get tenants in the boxes because otherwise the property's finances enter a death spiral when the owner is staring down a $386 million debt payment. This has been happening at hundreds of malls across the country for the past 10 years.

Yes, I can confirm I am smarter than the people run Dick's. DKS is down 26% this week because the bozos running the company spent billions to buy failing Foot Locker.

DKS is Macerich's largest customer by far. Macerich has been run by idiots for decades. I know these people personally. MAC is trading near its 1996 IPO price. Extraordinary malfeasance is needed to make real estate worth the same in 2026 as it was in 1996 but the MAC people figured out how to do it. Stole millions from shareholders along the way.

 

[koleszar]

Mall-owner Macerich paid Dick's millions to take the space. Dick's relocated because of $$.

Macerich likely paid Von Maur even more, probably in the 8 figures. These payments are called tenant improvement allowances, supposedly to help new retailers fit out their stores, but in the case of Freehold Raceway, it is Macerich buying leases. Why else would Von Maur open a store in New Jersey?

Macerich is trying to save the mall. The tenants paying most of the rent are the small shop retailers. These leases have co-tenancy clauses that allow for lower rent or lease termination if anchor boxes are dark. Sort of like how Jersey Mike's can terminate its naming rights agreement if Rutgers leaves the Big Ten.

The Freehold Raceway owner will pay millions to get tenants in the boxes because otherwise the property's finances enter a death spiral when the owner is staring down a $386 million debt payment. This has been happening at hundreds of malls across the country for the past 10 years.

Yes, I can confirm I am smarter than the people run Dick's. DKS is down 26% this week because the bozos running the company spent billions to buy failing Foot Locker.

DKS is Macerich's largest customer by far. Macerich has been run by idiots for decades. I know these people personally. MAC is trading near its 1996 IPO price. Extraordinary malfeasance is needed to make real estate worth the same in 2026 as it was in 1996 but the MAC people figured out how to do it. Stole millions from shareholders along the way.

Interesting I guess they did the same for Dave & Busters. Just took company from England there last week Mall seemed to have very good foot traffic and not in decline.