London's Time Square mall to come onto the market

London's Time Square shopping centre will be put up for sale by its LPA receivers in an effort to recover value from the asset.

Located in the London borough of Sutton, the 11,700-m² scheme was acquired by Syrian-born businessman Simon Halabi's Buckingham Securities back in November 2005 with debt provided by Merrill Lynch. It was subsequently securitised in the Taurus CMBS (UK) 2006-2 Commercial Mortgage Backed-Security facility.

The asset went into receivership in April 2009 after Capita, the special servicer of a £46 mln (EUR 52 mln) loan, accelerated its repayment.

In a statement to the Irish stock exchange, the LPA receivers said they intend to select an agent for the sale of the asset. 'Due to certain factors affecting the property, including falling rental values, lack of occupier demand, falling occupancy, loss of key tenants and the administration of an anchor tenant, the receivers have advised that an immediate sale should be pursued in order to maximise recovery value from the property,' the notice said.

Main tenants of the scheme include retailer TJ Hughes, which went into administration in June.

The balance of the Times Square loan is £45 mln.