As losses mount, shopping center owner hopes for advances at Moorestown Mall

A South Jersey shopping center operator is reporting another big loss, but it's also pointing to advances expected at its Moorestown Mall property.

One change includes a liquor store coming to a long-vacant building at the Moorestown complex.

Philadelphia-based PREIT on Tuesday posted a net loss attributable to shareholders of $77.2 million, or $14.52 per share, for the third quarter ended Sept. 30.

That compared to a year-earlier loss of $44.6 million, or $8.44 per share.

PREIT also owns Cherry Hill Mall, along with about 20 shopping centers primarily in the mid-Atlantic area. It recently announced the sale of Cumberland Mall in Vineland, a transaction intended to decrease PREIT’s debt.

The firm, which is seeking to diversify its malls beyond a retail base, noted construction is underway at Moorestown Mall for a Cooper University Healthcare facility in a former Sears store. The facility is expected to open next year.

And PREIT said a land sale earlier this year had advanced plans for a 375-unit apartment complex in the shopping center’s parking lot.

Moorestown’s planning board on Oct. 27 approved a proposal to operate a Buy-Rite Wine & Liquor Store in a former Sears Auto Center.

The 22,600-square-foot, one-story building is in the mall’s parking lot off the 1100 block of Nixon Drive.

A timeline for the building’s conversion was not immediately available.

In posting its latest loss on Tuesday, PREIT noted traditional tenants like department stores and smaller retailers "face significant challenges resulting from changing consumer expectations, the convenience of e-commerce shopping, the expansion of outlet centers, and declining mall traffic, among other factors."

It also expressed concern over its role as a 50-percent guarantor of a $111.5 million loan for Fashion District Philadelphia, a multi-block shopping center in Center City.

PREIT said it is seeking relief from third parties in the event that lenders demand full repayment of the loan, but noted "we are unable to conclude that it is probable that we will be able to meet our obligations" under the worst-case scenario.

For the first nine months of 2022, PREIT reported a net loss attributable to stockholders of $134.1 million, or $25.25 per share. That compared to a net loss of $125.6 million, or $24.05 per share, in the same period of 2021.

Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal.