Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Longtime real estate investor Dean Adler sees unparalleled opportunity in the uncertainty of 2026. <\/p>\n
Post-2022, the real estate industry has been scarred by vacant offices, canceled projects, rising debt, and heightened interest rates and construction costs.<\/p>\n
Those stresses are keeping many real estate players in stasis. But Adler says that\u2019s why now is the time to bet big on new development in Philadelphia and beyond.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe like to buy when people have fear in their eyes, when people are losing \u2014 have already lost \u2014 their money,\u201d Adler said. \u201cA crisis for most and a select opportunity for the select few. I\u2019ve waited 40 years for this period. I\u2019m not gonna let it go by.\u201d<\/p>\n
In recent months, he\u2019s announced plans to redevelop the 1.7 million-square-foot office complex at Centre Square<\/a> with PMC Property Group, the city\u2019s largest apartment developer. Now he\u2019s talking about buying<\/a> the 137-acre mall formerly known as Franklin Mills<\/a> and turning it into a hub for youth sports and mentorship in Northeast Philadelphia<\/a>.<\/p>\n Combined, the projects would include 750 new homes and, according to Morningstar Credit, address $625 million of distressed commercial real estate debt. <\/p>\n That\u2019s on top of previously announced plans to remake <\/a>Montgomery County<\/a>\u2019s Plymouth Meeting<\/a> mall \u2014 Adler says that sale will close in May \u2014 and redevelopment plans for the Bourse<\/a> in Center City<\/a> with Keystone Property Group, with whom he is currently clashing in court<\/a> over a bid to replace them with apartment developer PMC.<\/p>\n Adler, who has spoken with The Inquirer four times since February, says these major proposals are just the beginning. He has his eye on the Willow Grove Mall<\/a>, the stalled redevelopment of the Family Court<\/a> building on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and the federally owned Custom House in Old City<\/a>. He also has big ideas for the Fashion District and the generally troubled East Market Street, including the Disney hole<\/a>.<\/p>\n Before this current spree, with his company Lubert-Adler Real Estate Partners, he helped remake a historic Philadelphia icon<\/a> in the Bellevue Hotel on South Broad Street, resurrected a riverside power plant<\/a> as a mixed-use mecca called The Battery on the Delaware River, and developed the new Aramark headquarters on the Schuylkill<\/a>. <\/p>\n But even by that standard, Adler\u2019s current to-do list stands out \u2014 and he\u2019s doing it under a new charter, Adler & Co. <\/p>\n Can one developer do it all? <\/p>\n Adler is a well-known player in Philadelphia real estate, with a boisterous personality and an often rumpled presentation. His recent burst of activity comes in the wake of the 2024 retirement of his former partner, Ira Lubert. <\/p>\n That\u2019s why Adler says he\u2019s leaving behind Lubert Adler Partners and starting a new company. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure he [Lubert] looks at this, and says, \u2018What\u2019s he doing?\u2019\u201d Adler said. \u201cI was not so prolific before because the market was too expensive.\u201d <\/p>\n But now? \u201cFor anyone who thinks I\u2019m doing too much, guess what? I\u2019m not doing enough.\u201d<\/p>\n Lubert did not respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Eye-catching, if unconventional<\/p>\n Adler insists he isn\u2019t being overly ambitious. He\u2019s just got a winning formula: Buy old, underutilized office and mall complexes in high-demand areas for cheap, then add an array of uses.<\/p>\n Almost all Adler\u2019s newer projects include housing, but they also focus on wellness with features like the Sporting Club at the Bellevue<\/a> or the m\u00e9lange of indoor sporting offerings called Ballers at the Battery<\/a>. <\/p>\n He also wants to dominate specific geographic areas \u2014 establishing what he calls districts or campuses across Philadelphia \u2014 near City Hall, along the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Old City, and the stretch of the Delaware River waterfront north of Penn Treaty Park. <\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t rent rooms; I rent lifestyles and experiences,\u201d Adler said. \u201cWhen you own the district, you have a competitive edge. How could a single asset compete with me when I control wellness, apartments, and offices in the entire district?\u201d<\/p>\n Adler, who is 69 years old and spends much of his time in New York these days, says he has the financing for projects like Franklin Mills lined up and that he\u2019s securing backing from several sources. He also plans to invest his own money.<\/p>\n \u201cI have $10 billion in demand from pension funds, insurance companies, preferred equity groups. I have about 300 family offices,\u201d Adler said. \u201cMore importantly, we have enough of our own cash where we significantly invest our personal money. I can\u2019t ask other people to invest money if I don\u2019t lead with my money.\u201d<\/p>\n In interviews, a dozen prominent Philadelphia real estate developers and investors praised Adler\u2019s creativity and daring. Some also raised their eyebrows at the volume and diversity of his recent ideas.<\/p>\n \u201cDean is one of the most well-established, most well-respected investors and developers of real estate in Philadelphia,\u201d said Leo Addimando, managing director with Alterra Property Group, a major apartment developer in the city.<\/p>\n Several real estate professionals noted that Adler\u2019s alliance with PMC Property Group\u2019s Ron Caplan, his partner on Centre Square, is a boon to his ambitions. Caplan did not respond to an interview request.<\/p>\n But it\u2019s also true that Adler\u2019s eye-catching, if unconventional, mixture of uses are markedly different from the norm in the traditionally conservative world of real estate.<\/p>\n Developers love to build apartments because they are easy to explain, almost guaranteed revenue-generators, and willing buyers usually abound. After all, everyone needs a place to live.<\/p>\n \u201cHis creativity in trying to find unconventional sources of cash flow \u2026 is a novel approach but carries certain risks,\u201d Addimando said. \u201cDoes that cash flow materialize? Is it sustainable, and how does it get valued [when it goes up for sale]?\u201d<\/p>\n The Franklin Mills of the future<\/p>\n Adler\u2019s vision for Franklin Mills is typical of his ambitions. <\/p>\n He says the workforce housing and youth mentorship programs are his way to give back. And the Margaritaville-themed water park he\u2019s planning? He points to the success of the indoor-outdoor Island Water Park<\/a> at the Showboat in Atlantic City<\/a>, which attracts families in the winter months, too.<\/p>\n Legacy is also why Adler says he is so focused on building youth sports infrastructure and offering mentorship programs at properties like Franklin Mills and Plymouth Meeting. <\/p>\n Adler\u2019s youth sports-oriented vision for the mall properties is partly based on the complaints he hears from Philadelphia-area parents about how far they have to travel for tournaments.<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies are driving for the weekends to the middle of Central Pa. and staying in crummy motels with their families,\u201d said Steve Gartner, executive vice president with real estate services firm CBRE in Philadelphia.<\/p>\n Adler says the vast expanse of Franklin Mills has space for multiple baseball diamonds and soccer fields and a hotel \u2014 he wants a Homewood Suites \u2014 where traveling players and their parents can stay.<\/p>\n \u201cDoing outdoor sports is cheap, building towers is a fortune,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m taking surface areas and putting fields on them. I redo the malls. I don\u2019t build anything new. The truth is, they\u2019re not so big plans. It\u2019s all about easy execution.\u201d<\/p>\n Adler declined to disclose his offer on the Franklin Mills mall but said he plans to invest $100 million in the property. He acquired Centre Square for less than a third of its previous sales price.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can\u2019t make money building new. It takes too long; it\u2019s too risky,\u201d he said. \u201cBuy cheap, add value with local boots on the ground, and then create an institutional asset at 50% cost of your competition and two times the return. Then monetize.\u201d<\/p>\n Although some real estate industry insiders are skeptical that Adler can successfully juggle so many idiosyncratic projects, few would wholly bet against him either.<\/p>\n \u201cDean is a genius around real estate strategy and execution,\u201d said John Grady, the former president of the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp. (PIDC). \u201cHe\u2019s always been ambitious and ahead of the curve.\u201d <\/p>\n By most measures the real estate cycle is still in a downswing, and Philadelphia is not the only place with the kinds of assets Adler wants to buy for bargain basement prices.<\/p>\n Beyond his projects in Philadelphia, Adler\u2019s eye is on other cities, especially those with more robust economies and higher-paying jobs \u2014 where he will be able to command higher rents. <\/p>\n Although he won\u2019t countenance doing business in cities like Denver or Houston, which lack historic buildings to restore, other older cities are in his sights.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done everything I can in Philadelphia,\u201d Adler said. “One more deal, the Family Court building that I want to buy. Then I retire from Philly, and I put my efforts in New York City and San Francisco.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min Longtime real estate investor Dean Adler sees unparalleled opportunity in the uncertainty of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":173844,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[77966,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-173843","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-dean-adler-bourse-centre-square-franklin-mills","9":"tag-philadelphia","10":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","11":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}