PREIT Adds New Anchors, Tenants, to Portfolio

by Steve Lubetkin, GlobeSt.com

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust is selectively upgrading its properties with new anchors and other sought after tenants.  The Company has executed new leases with retailers that will enhance the quality of its assets while driving sales and valuation.

"We have made tremendous progress in our efforts to improve portfolio quality,” says PREIT CEO Joseph Coradino. In addition to disposing of certain non-core malls, we are improving the mix of tenants at our properties.  As of the end of August, PREIT had executed new leases with tenants for approximately 600,000 square feet of space."

Among the new anchor leases within the PREIT portfolio are the addition of Century 21 at The Gallery in Philadelphia; Dick's Sporting Goods at Valley View and Francis Scott Key Malls; and Burlington Coat Factory at North Hanover Mall.

Property-wide remerchandising efforts are transforming three key properties – Viewmont Mall in Scranton, PA; Washington Crown Center in Washington, PA; and Moorestown Mall in Moorestown, NJ.

At Viewmont Mall, new prototype stores for The Limited, Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works and  have been introduced, along with the region's only Forever 21, a new ULTA Cosmetics and Buffalo Wild Wings.

At Washington Crown Center, in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania, PREIT has introduced category-dominant merchants including Marshalls, Ross Dress for Less, Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts, Shoe Department's Encore, and has also executed leases with ULTA Cosmetics and Kay Jewelers.

At Moorestown Mall, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, PREIT is redeveloping the facility to differentiate it from the company's nearby trophy asset, Cherry Hill Mall.  After successfully garnering enough votes for a referendum to overturn an alcohol ban that had been in place for more than 100 years, PREIT successfully added fine dining to the mall.  Within the last year, two James Beard Award-winning chefs have opened locations at the property – Osteria by Marc Vetri and Distrito by Jose Garces – along with Firebirds Wood Fired Grill and a coming soon Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar.  These dining establishments accompany a Regal Premium Experience Theater that opened in December 2013.  A popular beauty salon, Rizzieri Salon & Spa, will open this fall and be the catalyst for the next phase of this project, Boutique Row, a segment of high-end, luxury retailers geared toward the fashion-forward, affluent shopper.  Three tenants are currently signed for this collection – Erdon, Zeyzani and Orangetheory Fitness.
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