PREIT, the Philadelphia-based owner of the Exton Square Mall and others, is looking to add as many as 7,000 apartments to six of its mall properties as part of a shift in company strategy, writes Paul Schwedelson for the Philadelphia Business Journal.

After the Philadelphia company sold off over 20 malls in as many years, its aim now is to maximize the properties it still owns by converting their use and selling any land adjacent to them that it considers underused.

In the Philadelphia region, PREIT is planning on building a total of 1,400 apartments on the land at four of its properties, including the Exton Square Mall in Chester County, the Plymouth Meeting Mall and Willow Grove Park in Montgomery County, and Springfield Mall in Delaware County.

The project at Moorestown Mall, which includes 375 apartments, is already under construction. The company is currently in the process of getting approvals for the remaining three properties.

Adding apartments to its properties is a part of PREIT’s larger effort to rebuild its value following financial struggles that led it to file for bankruptcy in November 2020.

“[We want] to look for an opportunity for some kind of a strategic merger,” said PREIT CEO Joseph Coradino. “That’s ultimately where the business goes.”

Read more about PREIT in the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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Editor’s Note: This post first appeared on VISTA Today in February 2023.

The conversion of unused retail pads adjacent to malls is occurring elsewhere, as this report on Moorestown Mall, illustrates.