Simon Property Group and partner Invesco Advisers locked in a $750 million refinancing of the Shops at Crystals luxury mall on the Las Vegas Strip that lets the owners pull $190 million in cash from the property even as tourism has dropped in recent months.
The five-year, interest-only loan carries an assumed fixed rate of 5.20% and matures in May 2031, according to S&P Global Ratings' presale analysis of the upcoming commercial mortgage-backed securities offering. Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of America and Goldman Sachs are to originate the mortgage on or before May 12.
That the venture can extract fresh cash at a time when Las Vegas tourism has cratered to its lowest levels since the early 2000s speaks to the enduring pricing power of ultra-luxury retail in prime locations.
Las Vegas welcomed just 38.5 million visitors in 2025, down sharply from the 41.7 million that came in 2024, a year boosted by the Super Bowl, S&P Global Ratings noted. The decline stems from multiple forces: unfavorable comparisons to a Super Bowl year, falling international travel tied to evolving policy conditions, and a pullback in domestic visitation fueled by economic uncertainty and the rise of online and local gaming, the bond-rating firm said.
Yet the pace of decline has moderated, according to S&P. The Las Vegas Convention Center is also on pace to host 1.2 million attendees in 2026, up from 1 million in 2025.
Approximately 90% to 95% of The Shops at Crystals' sales come from tourists, according to the property's appraiser. Despite the wider Las Vegas visitor slump, total property sales reached $702.5 in each of the past two full years. That's 76% above 2019's pre-pandemic total of $400.4 million.
The Shops at Crystals boasts the highest concentration of luxury tenants on the Strip. The enclosed, three-level center serves as the flagship location for most of the market's high-end fashion and jewelry brands.
The property is 90.3% leased to 49 tenants, including four anchor names occupying more than 10,000 square feet each: Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and Hermès, according to S&P.
Louis Vuitton, the property's largest tenant at 12.7% of total net rentable area, is investing about $50 million to expand its space by 14,000 square feet, according to S&P. The renovation is set to debut as the brand's Western Hemisphere flagship store upon its expected completion this summer.
Built in 2009 as part of the 67-acre CityCenter development, the Shops at Crystals sits adjacent to the Waldorf Astoria hotel and The Cosmopolitan hotel and casino, both luxury properties. The mall is near T-Mobile Arena, home of the Las Vegas Golden Knights hockey team, and the new stadium under construction as the future home of the Las Vegas Athletics MLB franchise beginning in 2028.
Loan proceeds will retire $550 million of existing securitized debt and return $190 million, representing 25.3% of total financing, to the sponsors. The bond deal signals lender confidence in high-end brick-and-mortar assets even amid broad retail sector headwinds from e-commerce growth and shifting consumer tastes, according to S&P.
Simon acquired the approximately 260,000-square-foot property a decade ago for $1.1 billion, according to CoStar data. The retail giant financed the purchase through a CMBS offering.
Based on the property's current appraised value of $1.6 billion, or $5,639 per square foot, the sponsors retain roughly $1.1 billion of implied equity after closing. Simon did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoStar News.