Cherry Hill Mall Transforms To The Next Level
PREIT transforms Cherry Hill Mall with a $200 million-plus redevelopment and expansion.
Stephanie Mayhew

New restaurants, like Seasons 52, joined Cherry Hill Mall’s Bistro Row, an open-air restaurant park added to the center as part of the expansion. Photos Courtesy of Dawn Deppi

In 2003, Pennsylvania Real Estate Trust (PREIT) bought Cherry Hill Mall from The Rouse Co. with a specific plan in mind. Well located in the affluent Philadelphia suburb of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, with easy access from several major roadways, the mall was performing well in terms of sales, but PREIT saw the opportunity for it to draw even greater sales. According to Joseph F. Coradino, president of PREIT Services LLC and PREIT-Rubin, Inc, the mall had not been renovated since the 1970s and did not meet the current demand of shoppers in the surrounding trade area. As the area’s population had increased so had its affluence, taste and buying power.

“The vision was to find a way to take the mall to the next level in terms of its design, materials, finishes and tenancy,” Coradino explains. “When we acquired it, one of the things that we knew intuitively was that the market and demographics had grown above and beyond the property.”

Andrew Bottaro, vice president of development for PREIT, adds, “Cherry Hill was becoming more of the local mall and we saw the opportunity to make it a regional center by bringing in national retailers that were currently not in the South Jersey market.”

In order to achieve its vision, the REIT set out on a $200 million-plus redevelopment of the 1.04 million-square-foot mall that focused on upscale tenants, a dynamic and beautiful design and a physical plan that offered better functionality and usability for both tenants and shoppers.

However, before PREIT could begin its ambitious renovation plan, the company needed to complete step one of its vision — securing the perfect tenant for a vacant department store, formerly occupied by Strawbridge’s.

A clear sight line to retail stores was part of the center’s design philosophy. Pictured are the Apple store and MAC Cosmetics store at Cherry Hill Mall.

“Before we acquired the mall — but knew we were going to buy it — we talked to Nordstrom about the property,” says Coradino. “We looked at the income levels of the market and found that comparatively the 5-mile ring surrounding the Cherry Hill Mall had more households making over $100,000 a year than a number of markets where there were existing Nordstrom stores. They really served as the impetus for rethinking the renovation of the mall.”

Once Nordstrom was on board with a 138,000-square-foot store, PREIT locked in Crate and Barrel and The Container Store for outparcel locations, at 34,000 and 24,484 square feet respectively. Both stores opened in November 2007 and Nordstrom opened its doors in March 2009, joining the existing 317,000-square-foot Macy’s and 174,000-square-foot JC Penney.

Several other top national retailers have signed onto the project as well, including BCBGMAXAZRIA, Apple, A/X Armani Exchange, Steve Madden, Coach, Johnston & Murphy, Brighton Collectibles, J.Crew, Sephora, Coach, bebe, Cache, Ann Taylor, as well the largest Hollister Co. store in the country and one of the first U.S. stores for Garage, a Montreal-based retailer. Overall, the mall’s new tenant line-up makes it the only upscale mall in Southern New Jersey.

“The affluence in the area is sort of hidden, so some of our retailers did not realize how much of a pent-up demand there was, and not just from the affluent communities in Cherry Hill, but also the general population,” says Bottaro. “Fortunately we have been able to attract retailers that will have their only store in the Delaware Valley, or their only unit in South Jersey, at Cherry Hill Mall.”

In addition to several new fashion retailers, the tenant line-up will include several new and much needed restaurants along the front of the mall and flanking Nordstrom.

“Prior to the redevelopment, the elevation along Route 38 in front of the mall was pretty tired and unimpressive. We thought there was an opportunity to create an outdoor dining experience at the property,” Coradino notes.

The addition of Nordstrom was a key element for PREIT’s expansion of Cherry Hill Mall.

That experience, now known as Bistro Row, currently boasts Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, and Maggiano’s Little Italy. The Capital Grille and California Pizza Kitchen are opening late spring/early summer. Ultimately, PREIT plans to have six restaurants on Bistro Row.

Although the REIT has brought in some of the most sought after retailers to the new mall, the economy slowed leasing efforts.

“The story is a good one, but we did have to make more of an effort to get the property leased up given the economic environment, but the results speak for themselves,” says Coradino. “We were able to get tenants who had very limited openings this year.”

In order to bring the second component of the redevelopment to fruition — a new look for the center — PREIT brought Jim Ryan and his team at JPRA Architects on board to create the mall’s new design.

“For the design, we wanted something that was identifiable, clean, contemporary, and as maintenance free as we could get,” says Ryan.

However, he notes that turning the outdated mall into what it is today took some time.

“The existing structure was difficult to deal with. We went through many, many iterations of the plan,” says Ryan. “The design was not just about making a pretty picture, but about how this mall was going to look over a period of time.”

The first phase of the redevelopment, which was finished in mid 2007, allowed for the initial renovation of the existing portion of the mall as well as the addition of Crate and Barrel and The Container Store as outparcels. In the existing part of the mall, PREIT did a complete gut renovation, putting in new floors, new sky lights, new graphics, a new lighting package, a new ceiling and all new landscaping surrounding the mall. The renovation of the existing portion began in February 2008 and was finished just in time for Black Friday that same year to accommodate the holiday shopping season.

The second phase of the redevelopment included the demolition of the Strawbridge store, the expansion of the mall, which included the two-level addition and the addition of the Nordstrom, as well as the restaurants along Bistro Row and a 400-car parking deck.

“We wanted to create more of a destination. It was the mall of choice for everyone living in Cherry Hill, but we wanted to make it aesthetically more pleasing not only on the inside but on the outside,” says Bottaro.

The new grand court at Cherry Hill Mall.

One of the main factors in capturing the aesthetic appeal that the developers were looking for was increasing visibility within the mall. According to Ryan, visual sight lines from each anchor down the entire length of the mall were studied with countless computer generated images to ensure that all visual sight lines were respected, and, for example, that traffic from the Nordstrom corridor down to JC Penney, was a natural progression. The roof was raised in two places to create a more open feel and allow for greater visibility up and down every corridor. Now, if a customer is standing at Macy’s and looking towards Nordstrom, she can see all the way down to the Grand Court and vice versa. Distinct floor graphics were also added to discreetly draw the shopper to the different areas of the mall.

“Much of the design not only focused on having different experiences as you walk through the mall, but it allowed for visibility way out in front of you,” says Bottaro. “The mall is very long and the architect did a great job of creating different experiences with lighting, as well as the treatment of the tile and ceilings as the customer traverses this very long concourse.”

As construction nears completion at Cherry Hill Mall, PREIT believes that the redevelopment has been a great success, and the tenants, shoppers and the mall’s competition, are also sharing this sentiment.

 “The redevelopment is absolutely magnificent and very distinctive, and the traffic that we are already seeing as a result of the renovation confirms the fact that our vision was on point,” says Coradino. “It is always nice to be judged by a jury of your peers, so when retailers and competitors talk about how great it is, that is when you know you have hit the ball out of the park, and that is what I think we did at Cherry Hill Mall.”

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