A mall owner’s pandemic hangover | Morning Newsletter
And Ed Sheeran brings intimacy to Philly.
The Morning Newsletter
Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter
Enjoy this mostly sunny Sunday with a high near 75.
Our lead story touches on how Pennsylvania’s largest mall owner is dealing with looming debt among other challenges. 🔑
If you see this 🔑 in today’s newsletter, that means we’re highlighting our exclusive journalism. You need to be a subscriber to read these stories.
— Paola Pérez (@pdesiperez, morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)
It isn’t the best time to be the largest mall owner in Pennsylvania, especially with a debt load nearing $1 billion due at the end of 2023.
The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) is repositioning itself after a year with the fastest interest rate increase in decades, and the continued struggles of the larger mall industry despite strong general retail sales.
Important context: In 2020, PREIT executed a bankruptcy reorganization during the worst part of the pandemic. The company went on to sell its weak properties and diversify its offerings at its malls. But it still owes $996 million to its creditors in a challenging lending environment.
Despite the debt load, Joseph F. Coradino, CEO of PREIT, argues that many of its fundamentals are sound:
🧳 It employs more than 25,000 people across its holdings and runs over 4 million square feet of space in the Greater Philadelphia market alone.
🛍️ Occupancy is strong across much of PREIT’s portfolio. After a sizable dip when many tenants closed during the pandemic, Coradino said, the malls are as lively as they were in 2019.
💰Sales at PREIT’s malls exceed $600 in sales per square foot, compared to national trends, which range on average between $400 and $500 a square foot. Top performer Cherry Hill Mall hits $940 in sales per square foot.
👟 Foot traffic in PREIT’s malls is up over 7% since this time last year, and up 20% from this time in 2021.
Continue reading on what lies ahead for the future of retail in our region. 🔑
What you should know today
Cherelle Parker, Democratic nominee for Philadelphia mayor, gathered 1,000 supporters Friday night for a makeup soirée of sorts to celebrate her May 16 primary election win.
The Mütter Museum has long been known as “disturbingly informative” and uniquely Philadelphian. Now its new leaders want it to be about health, not death — and passionate fans are furious. 🔑
SNAP work requirements are changing. Here’s what it might actually mean for the Philadelphia region.
A former Delco school bus driver was sentenced to state prison for filming upskirt videos of students.
Lawyers say Joseph LaForte, founder of Philadelphia business lender Par Funding, threatened to kill several people he believed to be potential witnesses in the $550 million fraud and extortion case against him.
Black Restaurant Week is underway for its sixth year with deals and specials at 9 Philly restaurants through June 11.
Before you head to the final day of the Roots Picnic at the Mann Center, check out today’s set times.
There’s a strange, new grand piano at Philly’s Kimmel Center. Where did it come from and why is it there? 🔑
🎤 Now I’m passing the mic to city and culture service reporter Hira Qureshi.
Standing with his guitar slung across his shoulders in a casual, all-black outfit, Ed Sheeran gave the 3,400-strong audience a heads-up about the two-and-a-half-hour-long night at the Met Philly about to play out.
Following opening act singer-songwriter Ben Kweller, Sheeran strolled right up to the mic standing in the middle of the stage at 8:30 p.m., on the dot. He welcomed wildly eager fans with a smile and a heart-wrenching rendition of “Boat” that evoked something deep in the audience as many sang in unison, word for word, the first track from his recently released - (read: Subtract) album.
“[It was] a beautiful crowd in an amazing venue steeped in history,” Sheeran told The Inquirer after the show.
Continue reading our review of the first of his two-night Philly stop.
❓Pop quiz❓
This week, we finally launched the Outdoorsy newsletter, written by yours truly, to help you get the most of your time outside this season. The debut edition mentioned this highly anticipated run through nature, marking its return after three years of absence due to the pandemic.
A) Broad Street Run
B) Belmont Plateau Hall of Fame Classic
C) Girl Scout Thin Mint Sprint
D) Wissahickon Trail Classic Run
See if you know the answer. And if you haven’t yet, sign up for the free newsletter.
🧩 Unscramble the anagram 🧩
This Broadway musical based on Tim Burton’s 1988 fantasy-horror flick is playing at the Academy of Music until June 11.
BICJULEETEE
We’ll select a reader at random to shout out here. Send us your own original anagram to unscramble if you’d like. Email us if you know the answer. Cheers to Pamela Hayes who correctly guessed Friday’s answer: Odunde.
Photo of the day
🎶 For today’s Sunday track, we’re listening to: “Then the shutter falls / You see it all in 3D / It’s your favorite foreign movie.” 🎶
👋🏽 Time to tend to my garden, and later catch a screening of the new “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.″