With Penney's closing, PREIT will reposition Exton Square

One mall owner is not crying about the closure of JCPenney.

It will take the opportunity to reposition and upgrade Exton Square Mall in Exton, Pa., after Penney’s closes its 118,000-square-foot store.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (NYSE: PEI) had already planned to redevelop the mall — much as it has with Cherry Hill Mall and Moorestown Mall in New Jersey and Plymouth Meeting Mall in Pennsylvania.

Along with the Penney’s closing, it plans to take over the Kmart space in 2016.

In effect, it will reposition the mall from what was once discount-oriented to take advantage of growing residential base in Chester County and the increasing affluence.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for PREIT. Having control over the JCPenney and Kmart locations will allow us to reposition Exton Square Mall by capitalizing on the stellar demographic profile of the area, which is the best in our portfolio,” CEO Joseph Coradino said.

More than a third of households, 37.5 percent, have income exceeding $100,000, which is well over the state average. Home values are also 75 percent higher than the state average, PREIT said.

Earlier this week, the mall opened a health care center operated by Main Line Health.

Recent store openings include Francesca’s Collection, Teavana, Learning Express, Chico’s, and White House|Black Market.

Through Sept. 30, the mall was 95 percent occupied.

With Penney’s on its way out, the anchors will be Macy’s, Sears and Boscov’s.

J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCY), which is based in Plano, Tex., said Wednesday it plans to close 33 underperforming stores, including Exton and one in Burlington Center in Burlington Township, N.J. The closures will save $65 million a year.

Acme also plans to close its location in Exton.

PREIT’s redevelopment of Cherry Hill Mall included the addition of Nordstrom and a restaurant row featuring Capital Grille and Grand Luxe Cafe, among others.

In Moorestown, PREIT used a voter referendum to get approval for four liquor licenses, which in turn makes room for restaurants from chefs Jose Garces and Marc Vetri.

At Plymouth Meeting, after IKEA moved to larger quarters, PREIT used the space to build what at the time was the area’s largest Whole Foods Market.

In Voorhees, N.J., it razed the aging Echelon Mall and replaced it with Voorhees Town Center, a mixed-used development.

The remade Exton Square will likely have strong food-and-restaurant offerings as well..

Source: Philly.com