Retail Giant Macerich’s Leasing Jumps 81% Since Q3 2024

Macerich, which owns 39 million square feet of retail real estate throughout 37 regional retail centers mostly along the East and West coasts, signed 1.5 million square feet of new and renewal leases during the third quarter of 2025, an 81 percent increase compared to the same period last year, according to the company’s third-quarter earnings statements.

This brings the real estate investment trust’s signed leases year-to-date to 5.4 million square feet, an 86 percent increase compared to the same period in 2024.

“New deals approved by our executive leasing committee, which reviews and approves deals on a biweekly basis, are up 61 percent from the same time last year, and are more than all of the new deals approved in 2024,” Jack Shea, the company’s president and CEO, said on Macerich’s third-quarter earnings call Wednesday, while also mentioning that the company is making strong progress in signing anchor tenants for its properties. 

“We are making tremendous progress on our anchor leasing initiatives,” said Shea. “We have 30 anchors targeted to open between 2025 and 2028, of which 25 are committed to sporting goods, fashion, entertainment, grocery and other retail uses.”

In Macerich’s Form 8-K filing, the company reported net losses of $87.4 million, or 34 cents per diluted share for the quarter, compared to net loss of $108.2 million, or 50 cents per diluted share, for the same quarter last year. The company credits the change in net loss to Macerich recognizing gains on sales of assets this past quarter on Lakewood Center in Lakewood, Calif., for $21.1 million and The Shops at Atlas Park in Queens for $11.9 million at the company’s pro rata share. Macerich sold The Shops at Atlas Park to Ashkenazy Acquisition Corporation for $72 million in July 2025, and then the Lakewood Center to a joint venture of three developers and investors for $332.1 million.

Macerich’s funds from operations was 35 cents per diluted share compared with 38 cents in the same quarter last year. That third-quarter figure, however, excluded expenses tied to certain deals as well as accrued default interest expenses and losses on non-real estate investments. 

On Oct. 30, the company announced a quarterly cash dividend of 17 cents per share of common stock. 

Doug Healy, the company’s senior executive vice president of leasing, noted on the call that portfolio sales at the end of the quarter were $867 per square foot, up almost 4 percent from the same period in 2024.

Healy said that occupancy at the end of the quarter was 93.4 percent, up 140 basis points from the previous quarter. The occupancy for the company’s core portfolio at the end of the third quarter was 94.3 percent, up 150 basis points from the previous quarter.

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