Joseph Coradino, chairman and CEO of PREIT (NYSE: PEI), participated in a video interview at Nareit’s REITworld: 2019 Annual Conference in Los Angeles.
PREIT’s Fashion District in Philadelphia development, which opened in September, has “taken off like wildfire,” Coradino said, with about 90% of retailers reporting that they’re performing significantly above their projections.
“It’s a project that we see moving to the top of our portfolio in terms of sales performance…It’s a project that will really redefine us and redefine retail in Philadelphia,” Coradino said.
Coradino also commented on the importance for PREIT to serve as a retail incubator and innovator.
“It’s critically important that we begin to find new, exciting, first-to-market retailers to bring into our properties because the business is not a business of purely national retailers any longer,” he said.