Grand Avenue owners to sell shares at auction

FMC Real Estate CDO 2005-1 Ltd. will conduct a public auction of membership interests in Grand Avenue City Mall LLC, the owner of the Shops of Grand Avenue in downtown Milwaukee.
According to a legal notice published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the auction will be held at on Tuesday, Oct. 26, at the Arnold & Porter LLP law offices in New York City.
The Shops of Grand Avenue, a 425,000-square-foot shopping center at 275 W. Wisconsin Ave. that opened in 1982 to much fanfare, has struggled for years with high vacancy rates.
FMC 2005-1 is a $439.4 million commercial real estate collateralized debt obligation (CDO) managed by SCFFI GP LLC, an affiliate of Five Mile Capital Partners LLC, according to a March report by Fitch Ratings. Stamford, Conn.-based Five Mile Capital Partners LLC is an alternative investment and asset management company established in 2003. The Firm specializes in investment opportunities in real estate, debt products, structured finance, asset-based lending and financial services private equity.
New York-based Ashkenazy Acquisition Corp. lists the Shops of Grand Avenue as part of its ownership portfolio.
Representatives for Ashkenazy and Five Mile did not return phone calls seeking comment.
“We’re not selling the mall itself, we’re selling some paper that is owed to somebody,” said William Mannion, the auctioneer who will conduct the auction. “It is a mezzanine loan. All we’re selling are membership interests in a company that happens to own the mall. We’re not selling the mall itself.”