PREIT sells Exton Square Mall to developer planning hundreds of new homes and apartments

Chester County’s beleaguered Exton Square Mall was sold to Abrams Realty & Development on Tuesday, with plans to demolish much of the existing complex and replace it with housing and a smaller amount of new commercial space.

Philadelphia-based PREIT, which emerged from its second bankruptcy in four years in 2024, sold Exton Square to the Elkins Park-based Abrams for over $34 million.

PREIT hailed the sale, which previous leadership had struggled to execute, as a pivotal move forward for the company.

“We have laid the groundwork for a dynamic redevelopment, and with Abrams Realty’s local expertise, this site is now positioned to fulfill its full potential as a modern, multiuse destination,” said Jared Chupaila, CEO of PREIT.

Abrams’ plans for the site include 376 rental apartments and 243 for-sale townhouses as part of what the company’s plans call a “pedestrian- and wellness-oriented mixed use town center.”

The news release emphasizes plans that will ensure walkability throughout the site, and especially along a “Main Street” that will run through the new complex.

The proposal also includes 146,673 square feet of new commercial space, a new Main Line Health location to replace offices in the existing mall, over 95,000 square feet of entertainment and fitness uses, and 48,000 square feet of office space. A new daycare facility is planned as well.

Exton Mall’s 178,000-square-foot Boscov’s stand-alone department store will remain in place.

A walkable and drivable “Main Street” with water features and green space would be put in place between the apartment buildings and the Boscov’s location.

“This is not just a redevelopment; it’s the realization of a true town center, designed to enhance quality of life while delivering economic and social benefits to the community,” Peter Abrams, CEO of Abrams Realty, said in a news release.

This is Abrams’ first redevelopment at this scale. National home developer NVR Inc. will partner with his company to build the townhouses. The builder of the multifamily development has not been named.

Abrams’ footprint spans the Philadelphia metropolitan area, with 20 shopping centers across the region. The company’s housing holdings are smaller, and the Exton Square proposal would more than double their apartment total.

Exton Square Mall is in West Whiteland Township, and the local government has long been skeptical of proposals to turn the property into a dense residential area. Many suburban jurisdictions in the Philadelphia area have been pushing back against new housing development despite high demand, even as construction in the city has boomed.

Abrams has the zoning in place to move forward with the plans as they are, but the company says it wants to work with the township to tweak the proposal to ensure it is acceptable to the local government.

Rajesh Kumbhardare, chairman of the township’s board of supervisors, says the company needs some municipal approvals on “density and open space” to move forward.

“To me and everybody else in the community, it looks like a dense use, and some of the townhouses that they’re putting in, frankly, look like army barracks,” Kumbhardare said. “They’re too close, and they don’t have enough open space.”

The township’s historical commission will also review the project in April because there are three protected buildings in and around the property.

Kumbhardare said the community has concerns about traffic and stormwater management as well. A West Whiteland Township Planning Commission memo notes further concerns about strains on mass transit and the local school district,.

Land-use rule changes were implemented earlier this year to reduce allowable density, but the developers had already secured zoning permissions for the project.

“Staff is of the opinion that portions of this design are excessively dense and fail to protect the township from overcrowding of land and congestion of population,” the March 14 memo notes.

PREIT has been telegraphing for years that the property needed a radically different future. Then-CEO Joseph Coradino announced on an earnings call in 2019 that the property “probably doesn’t want to be a mall.”

Exton Square Mall has long been PREIT’s worst-performing property, and the company has sought to sell it for years — disincentivizing finding new tenants that a new owner would have to displace.

The mall is currently 63% occupied, and in January Macy’s announced that its location in the complex would be shuttered this month.

In 2022, PREIT struck a deal with Brandywine Realty Trust to sell the property for $27.5 million, but the agreement fell through.

In 2024 PREIT emerged from is second bankruptcy in four years with new leadership including CEO Chupaila, who formerly held the same position for Toronto-based Brookfield Properties, one of North America’s largest landlords.

“The sale of Exton Square Mall reflects PREIT’s commitment to disciplined balance sheet management and liquidity generation and demonstrates our ability to unlock value in our portfolio while enabling properties to evolve in ways that best serve their communities,” Chupaila said in a news release.

In 2024 PREIT also acquired the Macy’s within the mall, which was previously held by a private owner. That partly explains the discrepancy between the sale price to Brandywine and the later, successful, deal with Abrams.

JLL brokered the deal for PREIT, with a team that includes Jim Galbally, Fran Coyne, Dave Monahan, and Patrick Higgins.

“The Exton Square redevelopment, anchored by Whole Foods, Main Line Health, and a large-format fitness tenant, along with a mix of housing, will be a model for mixed-use development in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions,” Galbally said in a statement.