New ownership sees opportunity for Belknap Mall

BELMONT — Where some see the Belknap Mall as struggling, Mason Asset Management Group sees it as an opportunity.

“We saw a well-located asset in a good market, the tenants from our perspective are pandemic-proof,” said Elliot Nassim, president of Mason Asset Management. “Even in these times this property will sustain itself.”

Mason Asset Management, in partnership with Namdar Realty Group, purchased the mall earlier this month, from the Wilder Companies, for $4.25 million, a fraction of its assessed value of more than $18 million.

It’s no surprise that the mall was transferred at a bargain price. Recent years have been hard on regional enclosed shopping areas, and the Belknap Mall was no exception. Over the past two years, five storefronts in the mall became vacant, including anchor retailers such as Maurice’s and Peebles, and the pharmacy CVS.

Still open, though, are the Shaw’s Supermarket and ClearChoiceMD Urgent Care, which are the “pandemic-proof” businesses Nassim referred to.

Other remaining tenants tend to be in the storefronts that open directly to the parking lots, and he said that’s increasingly attractive to retailers.

“We still think there is some additional leasing ability,” Nassim said. “This used to be a closed mall, the interior has become more vacant, we want to focus on filling the outdoor vacancies as our first strategy, then explore different uses for the interior.”

Mason Asset Management’s portfolio lists more than 120 properties across the country, including almost 50 shopping malls. Nassim said his company is willing to consider non-retail uses for the interior spaces of the mall. Such uses could include health care or fitness, such as the urgent care or Planet Fitness already on the property. It could also mean restaurants or movie theaters, or, in the case of University Mall, in Carbondale, Illinois, an insurance company call center.

Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty are also the team behind the Steeplegate Mall, in Concord, which has filled some of its vacancies with a trampoline park, laser tag center, and community theater.

Nassim said the new ownership team was also interested in exploring further non-retail development of the property. He didn’t want expound on the statement, but the previous ownership, Wilder Company, said in a previous interview that the property could be suitable for residential development, and that there could be views of Lake Winnisquam from an elevated vantage.

Officials welcomed the new owners, and expressed hope that the property could again become a vibrant part of the local economy.

Dari Sassan, Belmont's town planner, said he would want to hear more specifics about development plans before he could give a “thumbs up or thumbs down,” but added, “We’re all happy to hear that they’re already getting to work to make full use of that very important and valuable property. We definitely look forward to meeting the new owners and we look forward to being a partner in finding ways to make best use of that property.”

Jon Pike, the selectboard’s liaison to the Planning Board, said, “It is a beautiful piece of property, and, of course, we as a town want them to prosper.”

Deed confusion

There is one bit of confusion that Nassim couldn’t yet explain, and that is why the address of a competing mall outfit appeared on the deed when it was recorded in the Belknap County Register of Deeds. The principal owners –  Mason Asset Management and Namdar Realty – both established local limited liability companies in New Hampshire in March, Belknap Nassim LLC and Belknap Realty LLC, respectively, to hold the real estate.

But the address for the new owners, as listed on the deed, matches a third LLC, Belknap Mall Realty Holding, which was also formed in March. That company was established by Mehran Kohansieh, whose firm Kohan Investment Group is also in the business of running malls. An internet search of that business reveals a past that includes delinquent taxes and utility payments.

To add to the confusion, all three of the LLCs in question are located in the same town, Great Neck, New York, on Long Island.

Nassim wasn’t able to say how the wrong address came to be listed on the deed, but he stated “unequivocally” that Kohansieh has nothing to do with the ownership or management of the Belknap Mall.