PREIT’s rent collections topped 100% in last two quarters

PREIT, which had filed for Chapter 11 last year, has reported collecting 119% of rents at its 19 regional and super-regional malls in the first quarter due to payments of current obligations, as well as some it had deferred during the 2020 shutdowns.

That and collections of 114% and 99% in the previous two quarters have led CEO Joseph Coradino to envision a positive year ahead.

“It's clear that there is pent-up appetite fueling consumer demand with half of comparable properties last week posting traffic results in excess of the same period in 2019," Coradino said.

Negative views from lenders last November, however, forced PREIT to file for bankruptcy, only to emerge from Chapter 11 one month later with a restructuring plan and an additional $130 million line of credit. The company withdrew $55 million, but now reports having cash on hand of $30 million and a liquidity position of more than $100 million.

Coradino expects to see continued improvement in PREIT’s balance sheet with increases in customer traffic and sales of property adjoining some of the company’s malls in Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.

PREIT has secured a rezoning agreement to allow the construction of an apartment complex with more than 1,000 units at its Moorestown Mall in New Jersey.