Mall Do’s & Don’ts: First, decide if it has any future at all

DO…analyze the property’s underlying demographics, competitive landscape, and results and determine if it has a future or if it’s headed for obsolescence. We did this and sold off 19 malls--almost half of our portfolio.

One that we thought still had a life ahead of it was Moorestown Mall, which is just four miles away from Cherry Hill Mall, our top performer. To distinguish it from Cherry Hill, we began looking at new tenants that were not typical mall tenants… medical, dining, residential. We used to have tenants that were common in both. Now that’s by the wayside. We brought in HomeSense, Sierra, Five Below and Michaels. When we lost Sears, we bought the building back, and sold it to Cooper University Healthcare, which is investing $100 million in it and should drive additional customers to our doorstep. More recently, we executed a transaction with a multifamily developer that’s under construction for 375 residential units on the property.  We believe this sort of creativity is the future for many malls.

DON’T…try to prolong a mall’s life when it can’t be one anymore. Get creative and innovative. One thing’s for sure, malls are well-located. But there comes a time when you have to abandon the traditional mall approach and start coming up with a list of new possibilities.

Joseph F. Coradino’s PREIT team relies on demographic and psychographic studies to inform the tenant curation at each of its properties.