PREIT has agreement of sale for Palmer Park Mall

PREIT, the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust which once owned a number of malls in the Lehigh Valley, is moving forward with plans to sell its final fully owned property in the area.

The Philadelphia-based company announced it has an agreement of sale and received a non-refundable deposit for the Palmer Park Mall in Palmer Township. The buyer of the mall, which opened in 1972, has not been identified.

The real estate investment firm announced last year that it planned to sell the 457,000-square-foot indoor shopping center, which is anchored by Boscov’s and Bon-Ton department stores.

In the last three years, PREIT has sold interests in 20 assets, including eight noncore malls with sales of less than $250 per square foot. The interests sold had a value of more than $480 million.

In 2014, the company sold the South Mall in Salisbury Township near Allentown and its 50 percent interest in the Whitehall Mall. In early 2013, the company sold the Phillipsburg Mall, which borders Lopatcong and Pohatcong townships in New Jersey.

“We are proud to continue making progress on our … disposition program as we continue to transform our platform,” said Joseph F. Coradino, CEO of PREIT. “This has been a top priority for PREIT and has allowed us to deliver strong operating results and recycle capital into our higher-quality assets.”

Details of the sale, including price and proceeds, will be made available upon closing. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of the year.

When the Palmer Park Mall sale is complete, PREIT will no longer fully own any mall properties in the Greater Lehigh Valley. It owns a 50 percent stake in the Lehigh Valley Mall in partnership with Simon Property Group.

Source: LVB