Plano West The shops of Willow Bend faces a new retail challenge in 2020: late loan repayment.

Bisnow

The Shops at Willow Bend’s restaurant row, which he opened in 2019 to boost traffic.

The North Texas Mall is one of three Starwood Retail Properties assets securing an overdue loan with an outstanding balance of $ 135.7 million, according to Trepp Analytic.

The past due loan is in the second of two 60-day forbearance periods after it passed its extended two-year maturity date in November, Trepp said. The delinquency was first reported by the Dallas Morning News.

Starwood Retail Properties said Bisnow in a statement, he hopes to extend and restructure the loan, which covers a national portfolio.

Approximately 48% of the overdue loan balance is guaranteed by The Shops at Willow Bend in Plano, with the remaining balance tied to Starwood’s Fairlane Town Center in Dearborn, Michigan, and Stony Point Fashion Park in Richmond, Virginia.

The loan could easily be transferred to a special department, although Starwood has expressed strong interest in changing or extending the terms of the debt, Trepp said.

Late payment is a cold reminder that even malls in wealthy areas with millions of dollars invested in experiential retail are facing headwinds in today’s changing retail environment.

Willow Bend’s shops were reinvented last year with the opening of a new row of restaurants and an upscale Equinox fitness center to drive lifestyle-focused traffic.

These locations, along with the existing Crayola experience for children, have been designed to attract repeat traffic for the benefit of all retailers in the mall.

Stony Point Fashion Park has also received heavy investments in chef-run restaurants, specialty shops and entertainment venues as tenants, according to the Starwood Retail Properties website.

Starwood Retail said it is still focused on the future of The Shops at Willow Bend despite the delay in payments.

“[It] is business as usual at the property as we continue to work hard to execute our repositioning plans, ”the owner and retailer said in a statement.