PREIT Looks Forward to Welcoming Coveted Brand Primark to Mall at Prince George's

PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- PREIT (OTC:PRET) today announced the execution of a lease with Primark at Mall at Prince George's in Hyattsville, MD. The retailer will take 30,000 square feet and plans to open in 2025. The store will be located in the space formerly occupied by JC Penney, highlighting PREIT's robust track record of replacing anchor stores across its portfolio.

Primark recently announced their plan for continued expansion in the U.S., anticipating growing their store from 24 locations to 60. Primark will join the diverse tenant mix at the mall, inclusive of dining options: Chipotle, Mezeh Mediterranean Grill, Miller's Ale House, Hook & Reel and others, popular apparel and accessory options H&M, DSW, Old Navy and Victoria's Secret, beauty favorite Ulta, as well as Planet Fitness and Target, amplifying PREIT's commitment to making their properties one-stop shops for dining, entertainment, shopping, and more.

Located just outside of Washington DC, Mall at Prince George's is perfectly positioned to benefit from this tenant addition. Situated along the Metro Green Line and approximately 15 miles from Amazon HQ2 in Crystal City, Hyattsville is a densely populated city, resulting in strong existing foot traffic set to improve as a result of the addition of Primark to the diverse tenant mix at Mall at Prince George's.

"Welcoming Primark to the Mall at Prince George's signifies not just a valuable addition to our diverse tenant mix, but a powerful magnet for driving traffic and attracting consumers," says Joseph F. Coradino, CEO of PREIT. "This move aligns with our overarching mission to create compelling retail and experiential destinations at the intersection of life and commerce through innovative, engaging and diversified tenant mixes with iconic, in-demand brands that the community loves and trusts." 

Kevin Tulip, President, Primark US commented: "As Primark continues to expand its footprint throughout the US, we're thrilled to bring 'Primania' to Mall at Prince Georges with the announcement of another lease in the DMV area. After opening our Arundel Mills store last year and seeing DMV shoppers experience our quality affordable fashion, beauty, accessories, and homewares we can't wait to open our doors at the Mall at Prince George's!"

About PREIT

PREIT is a real estate investment trust that owns and manages innovative properties developed to be thoughtful, community-centric hubs. PREIT's robust portfolio of carefully curated, ever-evolving properties generates success for its tenants and meaningful impact for the communities it serves by keenly focusing on five core areas of established and emerging opportunity: multifamily & hotel, health & tech, retail, essentials & grocery and experiential. Located primarily in densely populated regions, PREIT is a top operator of high quality, purposeful places that serve as one-stop destinations for customers to shop, dine, play and stay. Additional information is available at www.preit.com or on Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements that can be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "project," and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans, strategies, anticipated events, trends and other matters that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements reflect our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the economy and other future or current business plans, views about future events, achievements, results,  and cost reductions and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in circumstances that might cause future events, achievements or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. In particular, our business might be materially and adversely affected by: 

• • our ability to achieve expected benefits from prior restructuring activities or those contemplated in the future;
  • the effectiveness of the strategies we employ to address our liquidity and capital resources;
  • the COVID-19 global pandemic and the public health and governmental response, which have created periods of significant economic disruptions and also have and may continue to exacerbate many of the risks listed herein and may lead to short-term and long-term changes in consumer behavior;
  • changes in the retail and real estate industries, including bankruptcies, consolidation and store closings, particularly among anchor tenants;
  • changes in economic conditions, including unemployment rates and its effects on consumer confidence and spending, supply chain disruptions, the inflationary environment, uncertainty caused by geopolitical conditions, the potential for economic slowdown or recession and the corresponding effects on tenant business performance, prospects, solvency and leasing decisions;
  • our inability to collect rent due to the bankruptcy or insolvency of tenants or otherwise;
  • our ability to sell properties that we seek to dispose of, which may be delayed or prevented by, among other things, the failure to obtain zoning, occupancy and other governmental approvals and permits or, to the extent required, approvals of other third parties;
  • potential losses on impairment of certain long-lived assets, such as real estate, including losses that we might be required to record in connection with any disposition of assets;
  • our ability to maintain and increase property occupancy, sales and rental rates;
  • increases in operating costs that cannot be passed on to tenants, which may be exacerbated in the current inflationary environment;
  • the effects of online shopping and other uses of technology on our retail tenants which may lead to reduction in demand for rental space;
  • risks related to our development and redevelopment activities, including delays, cost overruns and our inability to reach projected occupancy or rental rates;
  • social unrest and acts of vandalism or violence at malls, including our properties, or at other similar spaces, and the potential effect on traffic and sales;
  • restrictions on our operations contained in the agreements governing our indebtedness;
  • our variable rate indebtedness;
  • future changes to U.S. tax laws or the impact of disputes with governmental tax authorities;
  • the bankruptcy process, our ability to obtain approval from the bankruptcy court with respect to motions or other requests made to the bankruptcy court throughout the course of the Chapter 11 proceedings and to negotiate, develop, obtain court approval of, confirm and consummate the Prepackaged Plan contemplated by the RSA or any other plan that may be proposed within our currently expected timeline or at all;
  • the effects of the Chapter 11 proceedings, including increased professional costs, on the liquidity, results of operations and businesses of the Company and its subsidiaries;
  • our ability to operate our business during the pendency of the Chapter 11 proceedings;
  • the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the RSA, including the ability of the parties to negotiate definitive agreements with respect to the matters covered by the term sheets included in the RSA, the occurrence of events that may give rise to a right of any of the parties to terminate the RSA, and the ability of the parties thereto to receive the required approval by the bankruptcy court and to satisfy the other conditions of the RSA;
  • our ability to maintain relationships with our suppliers, customers, employees and other third parties as a result of, and following, our 2021 emergence from bankruptcy and any emergence upon completion of the Chapter 11 proceedings, as well as perceptions of our increased performance and credit risks associated with our constrained liquidity position and capital structure, which reflects a recently increased risk of additional bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings;
  • our substantial indebtedness and ability to generate sufficient cash to reduce our indebtedness and our potential need and ability to incur further indebtedness;
  • our ability to generate sufficient cash to service indebtedness even now that the PREIT pre-petition indebtedness has been restructured and in light of the proposed financial restructuring contemplated by the RSA;
  • developing, funding and executing our business plan and ability to continue as a going concern;
  • our capital structure upon completion of the Chapter 11 proceedings;
  • the comparability of our post-emergence financial results to its historical results and the projections filed with the bankruptcy court in our 2020 Chapter 11 proceedings and the projections disclosed in connection with the transactions contemplated by the RSA;
  • changes to our business strategy and performance;
  • our tax treatment by the Internal Revenue Service under Section 7874 and Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended; and
  • governmental investigations and inquiries, regulatory actions and lawsuits, in each case related to the Company and its officers.

Additional factors that might cause future events, achievements or results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements include those discussed herein and the risks, uncertainties and factors described in the "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022, and the Company's Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarterly periods ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023 and September 30, 2023, as filed with the SEC and available on the Company's website at www.preit.com and http://www.sec.gov. 

 Any forward-looking statements made by us speak only as of the date on which they are made, and we do not intend to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or otherwise. 

Contact:
Heather Crowell
Executive Vice President
Gregory FCA for PREIT
(215) 316-6271
[email protected]

SOURCE PREIT