Independence Mall could be put up for sale by a special servicer in the second half of this year, according to a recent Fitch Ratings news release.

That timing is an estimate based on information received from the special servicer, CWCapital Asset Management, in charge of the mall’s $110 million loan, a Fitch analyst said Thursday. The loan was reported in default last year.

Fitch downgraded the classes of a pool of loans that includes Independence Mall’s, basing the change on estimated loss expectations, the news release said.

The potential sale of the mall could help offset the amount due on the mall’s loan, said Christopher Bushart, a Fitch analyst of commercial mortgage-backed securities.

“We certainly have losses here, but there’s certainly recoverability as well,” Bushart said.

The Fitch news release pointed out concerns for the more than 1 million-square-foot indoor shopping center off Oleander Drive and Independence Boulevard, issues that were factored into the downgrade because the mall’s loan is one of the largest in the group.

“Per the special servicer, the property has experienced challenges securing new leases; an adjacent power center has lured potential tenants from the mall,” said the release, though it did not specify which Wilmington power center. The report also said that although mall occupancy remained above 90 percent for the year ending June 30, 2014, debt service coverage ratio “was below 1.0x because of a decline in base rents for new and renewing tenants.”

Almost 500,000 square feet of the mall at 3500 Oleander Drive, built in 1979, serves as collateral for the loan. That portion includes anchor tenant JC Penney. Belk, Sears and Dillard’s own their portions of the mall.

The Fitch release said JC Penney’s lease expires Aug. 31, 2016.

Representatives of Madison Marquette, the company that handles marketing and leasing for Independence Mall, said Thursday that they could provide comments or more information next week. 

Earlier this year, the special servicer had reduced the appraisal of Independence Mall from $172 million to $58.4 million, according to Trepp. The borrowing entity for the $110 million loan, Centro Independence, "is owned by Centro Watt America REIT 10, Inc. (71.5%), Westfield Group entities (5.9%), Hugh McRae II (7.5%) and the Oleander Company (15.0%)," according to a Trepp loan prospectus description.