It’s not that bad. Yet. But here’s a fun (?) little story about just how f’d our cute little economy is right now.
Simon Property Group, the giant mall owner that isn’t going out of business next week, just sold some wreck of a mall in Cincinnati for under $20 a square foot. The city’s a dump, and so is the mall – anchored by a Kohl’s, 40% empty, labeled a total failure by its seller, and in Cincinnati.
So what does it take to buy a gem like that – and take on the debt from the gem in question – in this awesome funtime economy? The buyer couldn’t get a dime from the bank. He financed it, mostly, by asking rich guys for cash – cash he got, at wicked steep interest rates, only after personally guaranteeing the loans.
Sure, this story’s heading towards a real happy ending.