Mall Giant Macerich Pares Losses in Q1 as ‘Path Forward Plan’ Proceeds

Sometimes a glass that is half empty can also be seen as half full. Then, again, sometimes the glass is being crushed into sand to be rebuilt into a new and better glass.

Macerich, a publicly traded REIT that owns around 41 million square feet of real estate across 39 retail centers, is in the midst of its Path Forward Plan, a reorganization put in place by CEO Jackson Hsieh shortly after his March 2024 hiring. The plan’s goal is to simplify operations and optimize performance after five straight years of posted losses.

On the company’s first-quarter earnings call late Wednesday, Macerich showed funds from operations (FFO) of $92.4 million, or 34 cents per share including stocks and other securities, which is almost identical to the numbers for the first quarter of 2025, which showed FFO of $89.8 million, also at 34 cents per share. The FFO for this quarter included “gain on undepreciated asset sales of approximately $10.1 million,” according to the company’s earnings release.

Macerich reported a net loss for the quarter of $36.4 million, or 14 cents per share, compared to a net loss in the first quarter of 2025 of $50.1 million, or 20 cents per share. The company credits the difference to Macerich’s “recognizing gain on sale or write-down of assets, net in the first quarter of 2026.”

The leased portfolio occupancy at the company’s properties was 93.4 percent as of March 31, a 0.8 percent increase from the year prior but a 0.6 percent decrease from year-end 2025. 

During the first quarter of 2026, the company signed 1.6 million square feet of leases, a 2.5 percent increase from the first quarter of 2025 “excluding a multi-location anchor renewal package executed in the prior-year period,” according to the company.

“We are now firmly in the execution and conversion stage of our Path Forward Plan in 2026,” Hsieh said in the release. “Leasing remains ahead of plan with our leasing speedometer reaching 83 percent and the 85 percent target well in sight for mid-year as expected. Our SNO (signed, not open) pipeline has risen to $116 million, and the anchor repositioning program is on track with all 30 anchors committed. … When we exit the Path Forward Plan, we expect a company with higher permanent occupancy, annual rent escalators embedded across the lease base, a balance sheet with lower leverage, and a portfolio of irreplaceable assets in affluent markets where the best retailers in the world are competing to be.”

Coinciding with the earnings call, Macerich announced Wednesday that it had acquired Annapolis Mall, a “Class A retail center totaling approximately 1.5 million square feet (1.2 million square feet owned) in Annapolis, Md., for $260 million, plus the adjacent 13.1-acre vacant Sears parcel for $12 million.”

“This property complements Tysons Corner and gives us control of the dominant retail position east of Washington, D.C.,” Hsieh said in a release, citing a Macerich-owned mall. “There is strong initial leasing momentum underway with 353,000 square feet of committed tenants opening in 2026 to 2027. Deploying our leasing, management and marketing platforms will drive total occupancy toward 93 percent-plus, and we expect to capture significant NOI growth upside as well as lift sales productivity to over $800 per square foot.”

 Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com.