Foulk Plaza, The Festival at Oaklands and The Woods to Add 431,000 Square Feet

    FORT WASHINGTON, Pa., Aug. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Real Investment
Trust (NYSE: PEI) announced today the pending and completed acquisitions of
two shopping centers and one apartment community totaling approximately $44
million.  The combined purchase price of the three properties included
approximately $5 million in operating partnership units and the assumption of
$7 million in debt; the balance will be funded from the Company's line of
credit.  The Company completed the acquisitions of Foulk Plaza, a 56,000
square foot shopping center in Wilmington, Del. and The Woods, a 320-unit
apartment community in Ambler, Pa., earlier this month.  The pending
acquisition, The Festival at Oaklands, a 140,000 square foot community
shopping center in Exton, Pa., is expected to close later this month.
    Ronald Rubin, Chief Executive Officer of PREIT, commented, "These
acquisitions put us well ahead of plan for our target for 1998.  The Woods and
The Festival at Oaklands are expected to be immediately accretive upon
closing; as will Foulk Plaza, following our redevelopment activities.  The two
shopping centers both demonstrate the strong demographics, optimal locations,
and excellent development opportunities that we intend to leverage for
significant growth.  The acquisition of The Woods apartments fits into the
Company's previously stated strategy of acquiring multifamily properties in
the mid-Atlantic region that benefit from above average population and job
growth and a limited new supply of multifamily properties.  Moreover, we are
issuing operating partnership units in two of the transactions, which we see
as validation of the Company's potential for continued growth and
profitability."
    -- Foulk Plaza (Wilmington, Del.) is a 56,000 square foot neighborhood
shopping center located at Foulk and Naamans Roads in Wilmington, formerly
occupied by Rickel's.  The property will be redeveloped for a new 47,500
square foot Genuardi's Family Market, which signed a 20-year lease and will
open in the second quarter of 1999.  Genuardi's is a rapidly growing privately
held chain of 29 supermarkets in the Delaware Valley region of Pennsylvania,
Delaware and New Jersey.
    -- The Festival at Oaklands (Exton, Pa.) is a 140,000 square foot
community shopping center located on Route 30 (Lancaster Pike), 25 miles west
of Philadelphia, Pa.  The Festival at Oaklands is located in West Whiteland
Township -- Chester County, one of the fastest growing communities in the
greater Delaware Valley.  Adjacent to the property is the 305-acre Oaklands
Corporate Center, which will contain approximately 37 buildings with 2.0
million square feet when fully developed. The purchase price for the property
is expected to be $18.4 million, with a first-year return in excess of 9%. The
center was built in 1991 and is anchored by Clemens Markets, Sears Hardware,
Rite-Aid, and House of Fabrics.
    -- The Woods (Ambler, Pa.) is a 320-unit apartment community located in
the Philadelphia suburb of Ambler.  The property was built in 1974 and is
located at the intersection of Route 309 and Susquehanna Avenue, two miles
north of the Fort Washington interchange of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
Neighboring properties include Temple University's Ambler campus (4,500
students), the 6 million square foot Fort Washington Office Park and
Prudential's Headquarters and Business Center.  Average household incomes for
1997 within a three-mile radius of The Woods are $93,000.  The Woods has
consistently achieved occupancies in excess of 95%.  The first-year return on
cost will exceed 9%.
    Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, founded in 1960 and one of the
first equity REITs in the U.S., has a primary investment focus on shopping
centers (6.5 million square feet) and apartment communities (7,254 units)
located primarily in the eastern United States. In addition, there are six
shopping centers currently under development. PREIT's portfolio currently
consists of 47 properties in 10 states. PREIT is headquartered in Fort
Washington, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia.
    With the exception of the historical information contained in the release,
the matters described herein contain forward-looking statements that are made
pursuant to the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995.  Such statements involve various risks and may cause
actual results to differ materially.  These risks include, but are not limited
to, the ability of PREIT to grow internally or by acquisition, and to
integrate acquired businesses, changing industry and competitive conditions,
and other risks outside the control of the company referred to in PREIT's
registration statement and periodic reports filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.

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