The owners of the Mall at Prince George’s plan to tear down part of the old J.C. Penney site and put up a new apartment complex.

The Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, which has owned the Hyattsville mall since 1998, has submitted a proposal to remove a chunk of the existing mall in order to build a 360-unit apartment building with 1,000 square feet of retail just off Toledo Road.

Once an anchor of the mall, J.C. Penney closed its Hyattsville location in the northwest corner of the property amid a dramatic restructuring caused by a drop in sales during the coronavirus pandemic.

If approved, the plan would follow a national trend among struggling malls. It makes sense, because malls are often in prime locations with access to major roads and existing infrastructure in place, and the residents are likely to end up becoming regulars at the nearby shops.

An apartment building would do well in that area too, as it’s within the critical half-mile from the Prince George’s Plaza Metro station, which means potential residents would consider it an acceptable walk to mass transit.

PREIT has sought to diversify its revenue in recent years, adding restaurants like Miller’s Ale House on space in its parking lot and adding a 90,000-square-foot underground storage space.

Even after the J.C. Penney is torn down, the mall would still have more than 1 million square feet of interior shopping space.

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