Cumberland Mall is sold as PREIT sheds assets
VINELAND – A financially ailing shopping center owner has announced the sale of Cumberland Mall in Vineland.
Philadelphia-based PREIT, which is selling assets to reduce its debts, did not identify the buyer in the $45 million transaction.
"The mall will continue to be managed by the same staff members," a company representative said Wedneday.
Former PREIT employees "are being retained by new ownership and they are grateful for their years of dedication," the representative said.
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The sale was PREIT’s third this year involving a South Jersey property.
PREIT in June shed its 25 percent share in Gloucester Premium Outlets in Gloucester Township, a transaction it valued at $35.4 million.
In July, it sold land at Moorestown Mall to support the development of 375 apartments. That deal was valued at about $12 million.
PREIT last year sold a vacant Sears store at Moorestown Mall for $10.1 million to Cooper University Health Care, which plans to operate a medical facility there.
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And PREIT last month refinanced the debt at its flagship Cherry Hill Mall. The firm has announced no property sales in Cherry Hill.
PREIT is seeking to bolster its finances and diversify its properties in the face of persistent losses. The firm in August reported a net loss attributable to stockholders of $56.9 million for first-half 2022, compared to a year-earlier deficit of $81 million.
PREIT on Wednesday said its asset-sale campaign had delivered “meaningful balance sheet improvements,” helping it pay down debt by $148 million through Oct. 31.
PREIT has an additional $127 million of assets “under contract or negotiation for sale which are expected to close in the coming months,” the company said in a statement.
Proceeds from the sale of Cumberland Mall and several outparcels will be used to repay the property’s $39 million mortgage balance. Another $6 million will go to reduce the firm’s overall debt, the company said in a statement.
Cumberland Mall ranked 16th among PREIT’s 20 shopping centers, one slot behind Moorestown Mall.
Cherry Hill Mall is PREIT’s top performer.
The Vineland mall offers about 950,000 square feet of largely traditional retail space at Routes 47 and 55.
In an online profile, PREIT noted Cumberland Mall tenants include “retailer favorites like Boscov’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Marshalls, Old Navy and many more.”
The complex, with multiple restaurants and a Regal Cinema, opened a HomeGoods store earlier this year. It also added an 80,000-square-foot fulfillment center in a former Burlington store as part of "anchor repositioning efforts," the profile noted.
Jim Walsh is a senior reporter with the Courier-Post, Burlington County Times and The Daily Journal
This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Vineland NJ mall sold for $45 million by PREIT
