PREIT Refis Wyoming Valley Mall

PHILADELPHIA-Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust recently completed the financing of its 910,000-square-foot Wyoming Valley Mall in Wilkes-Barre, PA. The REIT used a portion of the proceeds to repay the mortgage loan balance on Beaver Valley Mall in Monaca, PA without penalty. Both financings were completed in December.

The new 10-year non-recourse loan on Wyoming Valley Mall is for $78 million, which replaced a $65-million loan that was repaid in September 2013, and resulted in proceeds of approximately $13.0 million. The interest rate on the new mortgage loan is 5.17%, a decrease of 68 basis points from the previous rate.

PREIT used a portion of the proceeds to pay off the $42.2-million mortgage loan balance on the Pittsburgh-area Beaver Valley Mall, which is now unencumbered. This loan carried an interest rate of 9.36% and was set to mature in April 2032. The balance of the proceeds was used to pay down amounts outstanding under the company's 2013 revolving facility and for general corporate purposes.

"PREIT has made significant improvements in strengthening its balance sheet in 2013 with these transactions being examples of our commitment," Joseph Coradino, PREIT's CEO, said last month. "We are pleased with the favorable terms we received on Wyoming Valley Mall's financing,” as well as the ability “to have paid off the mortgage loan on Beaver Valley which carried a disproportionately high interest rate."

Anchored by Sears, JCPenney, Bon-Ton and Macy's, Wyoming Mall experienced sales per square foot of $396 as of this past Sept. 30. Beaver Valley Mall is a 1.15-million-square-foot mall with sales per square foot of $272 as of the same date.