Massive Pittsburgh area mall sold for $100

[dlevere]

The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, located in northeast of the city, went for $100 at a foreclosure auction Wednesday, according to C-III Asset Management. The winning bid came from a financial trust that includes Wells Fargo as trustee.

http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/19/news...ars/index.html

[bungholio]

Wells Fartgo, something stinks if they're involved. Malls like that aren't really dying around here, bus systems go right to them all day. There's just small little stores within them like Sears that randomly die.


Can't believe they got away with that for $100, isn't that so cheap it seems criminal?

[dlevere]

isn't that so cheap it seems criminal?

You got that right.

[Pyriel]

I don't know about that. Just reading the article, it sounds like they're buying an enormous liability more than anything. It depends on what they're permitted to do with the facility after purchasing it, and whether they own the property and so forth.

If somebody offered to let me buy a Blockbuster, I'd have to have a long think about what I could do with the facility. If there were contracts in place that required it to essentially stay the same sort of business that already failed for a few more years, I'd insult the seller with my bid, and then be disappointed when it was accepted.

[bungholio]

Even then, would something like this normally go this low? A big mall for $100? I suppose I wouldn't know about them limiting what you can do with it or taxes or anything, but I look at it and see that whole building went for less than the price of some new video games. I'd assume the guy has a plan if he's buying it.

[Pyriel]

Well, that's why I say the devil's in the details. It sounds like the place was underwater enough that it didn't attract any serious bids, so the winner was a speculating bank. Or, like you think, there's some silly power play at work.

If there were 20 bids or something in a silent auction, or all projections say the place is doomed to be a stone around the neck of whoever owns it without massive investment upfront, then it's probably the underwater one. If there was one bid, and the place can be made massively profitable with One Simple Trick™, then it's probably the conspiracy.

[MathUser]

There's buildings that go for 1 dollar cause they are run down and are a financial burdon. I don't think 100 for a mall is totally unusual.

[bungholio]

I couldn't imagine anything going for a price that low around where I live. I have never seen a dead building here, just a few places to rent space that eventually get somebody after a year. Nothing stays empty long.

[xirtamehtsitahw]

Reminds me of that one episode of The Simpsons where Bart buys an old abandoned warehouse for 35 dollars. He then proceeds to have a little fun in the massive building before hitting it with a rock from his slingshot...only to see the entire building collapse because of that one rock! LOL