PREIT, the owner of the Springfield Mall and other mall properties in the region, is taking a new approach to pull itself out of $2 billion in debt from its underperforming malls. 

The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust hopes to build 5,200 apartments on six mall properties, raising cash and bringing shoppers and diners onto the properties, writes Bob Fernandez for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

CEO Joseph F. Coradino said the shift is necessary.

“I used to be in the mall business and now I’m in the real estate business.”

PREIT is looking at apartment construction at the Exton Square Mall, Willow Grove Park, and Plymouth Meeting Mall, as well as the Moorestown Mall in South Jersey.

It’s also looking at malls in Virginia and Maryland.

PREIT does face challenges from suburban communities worrying that a slew of new apartments will impact sewer capacity, traffic, population density, and schools.

Meanwhile, not all of its mall properties are struggling. PREIT reports its core mall properties saw a 14% jump in foot traffic through February. Retail and other tenant sales reached an all-time high of $618 a square foot for the year ending in February.

Read more at The Philadelphia Inquirer about plans to develop apartments on mall property.