Saks Global’s bankruptcy this year has been a boon to Simon Property Group, which has already begun to benefit from the luxury retailer’s Chapter 11-related store closures.
The upscale department store retailer exited bankruptcy in June as Exemplar Luxury Group.
In May, 1 million square feet of space was opened up due to retail bankruptcy – almost all from Saks Off 5th closures – yet the real estate investment trust’s occupancy level is equal to what it was at the end of Q1, Chief Executive Officer Eli Simon told analysts Monday.
Even better perhaps, new tenants are – or soon will be – paying higher rent, he said. Through Q2 this year, initial base rent from new leases is up 17% year over year. Already-inked leases that cover about half the space emptied by Saks already exceed the $18 million in rent that Saks had been paying. At the same time, tenant allowances – money up front given to tenants for renovations and other uses – are down 12%, Simon said.
“The rest are under discussions and near final deals, but we'll basically take the $18 million and turn it into $44 million,” he said.
Simon’s retail investments, a group that includes Simon-owned retailers J.C. Penney operator Catalyst Brands and e-commerce company Rue Gilt Groupe, have been less lucrative. That segment also includes mixed-use investment and management firm Jamestown.
In the first half of the year, this owned-retail segment swung into the red with a nearly $53 million net operating loss compared to net operating income of $227,000 in 2025. In Q2, NOI from those investments fell 24% to $31.8 million.
J.C. Penney’s sales declines continued into Q1 after a rough holiday quarter, and some analysts see it leaning on Catalyst for financial support in order to buy its turnaround more time.
By contrast, net operating income from all of Simon’s properties in North America rose 7.6% in the first half of the year, reaching nearly $3 billion, and 8.5% in Q2, reaching $1.5 billion.
