PREIT and Glimcher Group Form Joint Venture to Develop Paxton Towne Center

    FORT WASHINGTON, Penn., March 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Real Estate
Investment Trust (NYSE: PEI) announced today plans to develop Paxton Towne
Center, a 650,000 square foot power shopping center in Harrisburg,
Pennsylvania.  The Company has formed a joint venture with the privately held
Glimcher Group, Inc. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to develop the property,
which is scheduled to begin construction in the fourth quarter of 1998, with
completion anticipated by the end of 1999.  Paxton Towne Center will be built
on a 90-acre site located on Route 22, just east of Colonial Park Mall.  When
completed, the Center is expected to contain between 12 and 18 tenants, of
which two or three will be anchor tenants.
    The total cost of the project is expected to be approximately $60 million.
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust ("PREIT") and the Glimcher Group
will each own 50% of the development, with the Glimcher Group initially
responsible for development and leasing activities.  Upon completion of the
center, PREIT will acquire the Glimcher Group's interest in the project
pursuant to a predetermined agreement and assume all responsibility for the
management of the property through the Company's management affiliate, PREIT-
RUBIN, Inc.
    Ronald Rubin, PREIT's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "This
transaction is an excellent example of our long-term growth strategy for the
retail side of our business.  It gives us the ability to apply and reinforce
our proven development expertise of power centers and to create opportunistic
relationships with well-known, talented partners like the Glimcher Group.
Furthermore, PREIT will own 100% of the project upon its completion, which is
consistent with our strategy to maintain control of our portfolio assets."
Douglas Grayson, Senior Vice President of Development, added, "We have already
seen very active interest in Paxton Towne Center from many well-known national
retailers, and we anticipate that the property will be the dominant power
center in its market."
    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 (6.4 million square feet) and apartment communities (7,236 units)
located primarily in the eastern United States.  The Company's portfolio
currently consists of 46 properties in 10 states.  Pennsylvania Real Estate
Investment Trust is headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, 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 the Company 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 the
Company's registration statement and periodic reports filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.

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