Northeast

A persistent need for a tenant mix that is resistant to e-commerce and which facilitates a unique, authentic experience is prompting owners of older retail centers and malls to assume high levels of risk and redevelop their properties. While there can be a plethora of non-tenant-related factors that spur redevelopment projects — the basic need to charge higher rents, the structural and aesthetic deterioration over time, a desire to restore the public perception of vibrancy — the ultimate success of almost every retail redevelopment project hinges on the tenancy. “Modern consumers are attracted to experiential concepts and properties that are destinations, meaning those with a roster of diverse and dynamic tenants,” says Joe Coradino, CEO of Philadelphia-based retail investment firm PREIT. “Diversifying our tenant mixes across all our properties and markets is key to differentiating them.” PREIT has several redevelopment projects underway in Pennsylvania. The company is repositioning the anchor space at the Plymouth Meeting Mall, which was previously occupied by Macy’s, to house several new tenants, including Michael’s, Miller’s Ale House, Burlington, Edge Fitness and DICK’s Sporting Goods. PREIT has also transformed the former Macy’s anchor space at the Moorestown Mall into four box spaces that will house tenants …