The mixed-use redevelopment trend is coming to another struggling suburban Philadelphia mall.
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LA Partners, formerly Lubert-Adler, is under contract to buy the largely vacant Plymouth Meeting Mall from PREIT and plans to invest more than $100M in the property, Philadelphia Business Journal reported.
The sale price hasn't been revealed, but LA Partners Executive Chairman Dean Adler told PBJ he expects the deal to close in January. The developer also hasn’t said if any or all of the existing 948K SF enclosed mall will be demolished.
Plans are still in the works, but Adler told PBJ he is considering 700K SF of indoor and outdoor sports fields, a community pool and an ice skating rink. The mall sits at the interchange of I-276 and I-476 in Montgomery County.
PREIT only owns part of the mall, with several outer parcels belonging to other companies. That includes Keystone Investment + Development, which is converting a 175K SF office building near the shopping center into 149 properties.
LA Partners has a long track record of mixed-use developments, but most of them have been in urban areas. Its Philly portfolio includes The Bourse in Old City and The Battery in Fishtown.
Another PREIT property, the Exton Square Mall, sold to Abrams Realty & Development for $38M in March.
ARD wants to build 700 residential units and 280K SF of retail on that site, but it ran into a roadblock last month when West Whiteland Township’s Board of Commissioners rejected ARD’s master plan proposal. ARD filed a lawsuit against the board this month alleging that its two members failed to follow the municipal code.
Mixed-use shopping mall redevelopments have become a common strategy for CRE players nationwide. In South Florida, the Galleria Mall at Fort Lauderdale, Southland Mall in Cutler Bay and Sunset Place in South Miami are slated to get 8,000 new units via $4B in combined investments.
