Mall landlord Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust emerged from its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy after slashing more than $800 million in debt from its books, the last of the large owners of retail space hit by the pandemic to stabilize and a symbol of the property type’s recovery.

The Philadelphia-based real estate investment trust better known as PREIT said it completed its financial and corporate restructuring through an expedited process after seeking bankruptcy protection in December. In exiting from the court proceedings, PREIT also named a new CEO and has gone private.

"The reorganization sets up PREIT with a stronger and leaner balance sheet," the REIT said in a statement

PREIT was one of several retail REITS that suffered during the pandemic in 2020 when malls were ordered closed. Around that time, three filed for bankruptcy protection. They all — PREIT, CBL Properties and Washington Prime — ended up exiting the proceedings and continuing operations.

A host of retailers also sought Chapter 11 protection following the repercussions of COVID-related shutdowns, with some surviving and others eventually liquidating, dealing another blow to mall landlords.

Since then, PREIT had pivoted and was redeveloping some of its malls into mixed-use properties, adding multifamily housing and healthcare tenants to drive foot traffic and revitalize properties. That's a strategy that many of PREIT's peers, including Simon Property Group, have taken. But following its first bankruptcy filing, PREIT had a rocky road compared to CBL and Washington Prime.

PREIT faced a financial crunch late last year, warning in November it wouldn't be able to make $1.1 billion in debt payments that were coming due. PREIT's second Chapter 11 filing soon ensued, but investors were still bullish on the mall sector.

Through a pre-packaged reorganization plan, PREIT said it reduced its total debt by roughly $835 million, extended its maturity runway, and received commitments of about $130 million of new debtor-in-possession financing and exit revolver financing from a group of investors, led by Redwood Capital Management and Nut Tree Capital Management.

When it filed for Chapter 11 in December, PREIT owned and operated more than 18.3 million square feet of retail space in eight states across the eastern United States, with 23 retail properties including the Springfield Town Center in Virginia just south of Washington.

As part of the reorganization plan, PREIT previously disclosed that it had transferred its equity interest in Fashion District Philadelphia to its joint-venture partner at that location, fellow retail landlord Macerich, based in Santa Monica, California.

In addition, as a result of its corporate reorganization and consolidation of equity holders, PREIT said it is no longer a publicly traded company.

In another big change, PREIT has named a successor to the company's longtime CEO, Joseph Coradino. He was at PREIT for 40 years, serving as CEO since 2012.

To replace him, PREIT's board of managers named Jared Chupaila the company's CEO effective immediately. Chupaila has over 20 years of experience in commercial real estate executive leadership, corporate strategy, asset management, and leasing and operations.

He most recently served as CEO of Brookfield Properties' retail real estate unit, formerly GGP, where he oversaw the company's U.S. portfolio of more than 150 retail centers across 43 states, totaling roughly $60 billion in assets under management.

Before his position as GGP's CEO, Chupaila served as chief operating officer of retail at Brookfield Properties; executive vice president of leasing at GGP; and held various leadership roles across GGP, Rouse Co., and Howard Hughes Corp.

Coradino will continue to serve in a consultant capacity to assist with the CEO transition, according to PREIT.

In another management move, PREIT appointed Glenn Rufrano executive chairman of its board. He's set to work alongside current board members Vishal Chanani of Redwood Capital Management and Eric Hsiao of Nut Tree Capital Management.

Rufrano has over 35 years of experience specializing in stabilizing and repositioning publicly traded and private real estate companies. He most recently served as chairman of the ICSC, a retail trade group.

Before that, Rufrano was CEO of Vereit, a REIT that owned nearly 90 million square feet of retail property in the United States at the time of its merger with Realty Income Corp.

Under the reorganization plan, PREIT's existing equity interests, including $384 million of preferred equity interests, were extinguished in exchange for a $10 million cash distribution. Trade creditors and property-level mortgage debt were unaffected by the restructuring.