PREIT Emerges from Bankruptcy Protection with New Leaders

The former PREIT has emerged from bankruptcy protection as a private entity called PREIT Realty LLC. Jared Chupaila, a seasoned executive from GGP and Brookfield Properties, has stepped in as the new CEO. Glenn Rufrano, a veteran in real estate repositioning, joins as executive chair of the board of managers.

Joseph Coradino, who served as PREIT CEO for 13 years, and various other roles for 40 years, officially stepped down on April 1, paving the way for Chupaila’s leadership. This is the company's third CEO since 1997 and the fourth ever.

During its restructuring, PREIT slashed its debt by $835 million and secured approximately $130 million in new financing from investment management firms Redwood Capital Management and Nut Tree Capital Management. This restructuring does not affect trade creditors or property-level mortgage debt.

As part of the overhaul, PREIT extinguished existing equity interests, including $384 million in preferred shares, in exchange for a $10 million cash distribution. Consequently, the company is no longer required to report financial information to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, PREIT untangled itself from financial obligations tied to Fashion District Philadelphia by transferring its stake to joint-venture partner Macerich. This move shields PREIT from future financial liabilities and claims associated with the project’s loan guarantees. The project has been in the news lately, as the owners of the NBA’s 76ers want to demolish one-third of the site to develop a new arena. PREIT no longer will be involved in the project.

Bain Capital Real Estate Will Buy Open-Air Centers

Here’s one sign more investors are coming off the sidelines to acquire retail properties. Bain Capital Real Estate and retail-focused investment platform 11North Partners have announced a partnership to acquire and manage open-air centers across the U.S. and Canada. Bain Capital Real Estate, a division of the $180 billion private investment firm Bain Capital Real Estate, formed in 2018.

This is the first big deal for 11North, led by CEO Brian Harper. As president and CEO, he helped overhaul RPT Realty, culminating in its January 2024 merger with Kimco Realty. Several senior RPT executives have joined Harper at 11North. Harper emphasized the favorable conditions for open-air centers. “Historically low supply growth and increased demand for open-air shopping centers — driven by strong retail sales, persistent work-from-home trends and the increased prevalence for omnichannel shopping — provide a favorable backdrop for the sector,” he said.

Bain Capital — known for its investments in established retail brands like Staples, Domino’s and Canada Goose — expressed confidence in convenience-oriented, necessity-based retail. Bain Capital Real Estate head Ryan Cotton said the market’s insufficient recognition of the retail sector’s promise presented his firm with a strategic opportunity. “There are few proven private platforms to capitalize on this opportunity set,” he said.

More from C+CT

3 Ways Retail Property Owners Are Using AI Right Now

The artificial intelligence question on people’s minds these days isn’t about how to make money but rather about how to save money, Link Logistics CEO Luke Petherbridge said at RETCON 2024, a commercial real estate technology conference held this week. He said people ask him how AI can make their work processes more efficient, not how it can drive revenue. It’s more about automation of tasks and about insights into finding the next property in which to invest.

That’s precisely how Boxer Property uses AI, according to president Justin Segal. His company has created a workflow that helps it vet property investment opportunities. Boxer feeds its own history of acquisition offers and its accounting data, the latter flowing from Yardi, into Power BI. And Boxer has “tuned” the Azure Machine Learning cloud service to dig into that data and predict and score the likelihood that Boxer would make an offer on a given property. Boxer’s particular tuning wouldn’t work for another investor’s profile, but it helps Boxer determine which prospects to look at more closely.

Brixmor and Tanger want efficiency for the properties already in their portfolios, too, according to Brixmor chief information officer and senior vice president Helane Stein and Tanger senior vice president of information technology Talia Fine. That’s because every day that a tenant isn’t in a space is a dollar lost, Fine said at the conference. Brixmor thus wants to automate lease generation and the construction process, Stein said. Tanger is looking at tech vendors to help monitor key dates between lease and construction completion so the landlord can manage to those date, Fine said.

ICSC Member Andrea McGowen Has Died

ICSC member Andrea McGowen died suddenly on Feb. 18, at the age of 52. McGowen, a property management expert, was working as executive managing director of leasing and development for Cushman & Wakefield Asset Services in Toronto.

“Her family, friends and colleagues have established the Andrea McGowen Memorial Retail Scholarship at the University of Guelph to celebrate her leadership and contributions to the retail real estate industry,” according to the scholarship’s webpage. “This entrance scholarship will be awarded to the top student entering the real estate major program at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics at the University of Guelph. Donations are welcome.