A SMALL town is fighting to revive one of the nation’s largest “zombie malls” and bring it back from the dead, pushing to hold the shopping center’s owners accountable for years of neglect.
The once-thriving mall has been left to decay in the name of profit, plagued with store closures, nine foot wide potholes, old rat traps, and dangerous conditions.
Zombie malls are on the rise as more and more consumers turn to online shopping[/caption]
Residents in a small town are fighting for justice for one of the biggest zombie malls in the US, which has been left by its owners to decay[/caption]
Opened two decades ago, a nearly 1 million-square-foot mall has seen a troubled decline over the past few years.
Located northeast of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in Frazer Township, the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills has struggled like many malls nationwide, with upset residents even creating the “Pittsburgh Mills Mess!” Facebook group where they complain about the mall’s downfall.
Wells Fargo foreclosed on the dying mall in 2015, and Namdar Realty Group acquired it in 2018 for $11 million.
The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills has seen a slew of closures over the years, with only about a dozen of its over 150 storefronts being occupied and Macy’s standing as its last anchor store.
The once-thriving mall is now best known for the potholes that surround it, with one of them measuring nine feet wide and nine inches deep, per The Wall Street Journal.
Shoppers who walk inside the massive zombie mall are confronted with a number of concerns, including peeling paint, old rat traps, crumbling walls, buckets catching rain from the roof, flickering ceiling lights, and more.
“These are things that could have been easily fixed, but there’s so many of them that the dollar amount is exorbitant now,” building inspector Bill Payne told the WSJ.
Outside the zombie mall, the grass has not been cut all year, the sidewalks are cracked, and a “Pittsburgh Mills” sign with burned-out lights read “u gh Mills,” according to Payne.
Back in April, the building inspector taped 73 pages of code violations across a glass storefront in The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, determined to hold the owner, Namdar Realty Group, accountable for the mall’s condition.
DEAD MALL DRAMA
Namdar, which owns roughly 80 malls, has profited millions acquiring dying malls across the country, making money by selling parts of parking lots to developers or restaurants, challenging property-tax bills, and reducing expenses such as maintenance.
The company started extensive pothole repairs at the Pittsburgh shopping center this past week, chief operating officer Dan Dilmanian told the WSJ, with Namdar open to selling it or portions of it, and attracting new tenants as well.
“We are always seeking to bolster the tenancy in place and find new opportunities to add value to our malls,” he said.
However, the commercial real estate investment firm’s business strategy has angered communities in several states.
Frustrated residents have argued that their communities have lost tax revenue and become plagued with eyesores that they argue should instead be repurposed.
Zombie malls: a cultural story
The U.S. Sun spoke exclusively with retail expert Dominick Miserandino, CEO of Retail Tech Media Nexus, on the rise of zombie malls.
A “zombie mall,” also known as a ghost mall, is characterised by low customer traffic and high vacancy rates.
These shopping centers are often littered with empty storefronts, reduced maintenance, and a general state of decline.
Miserandino attributed the rise of zombie malls to the shift toward online shopping, a trend that grew significantly in the late 1990s and early 2000s with the launch of major platforms such as Amazon and eBay.
Online shopping further accelerated in 2020 due to the pandemic, with malls further suffering as traditional anchor department stores declined.
“Zombie malls aren’t just a retail story, they’re a cultural one,” said Miserandino. “We switched to shopping online, and the old model of endless generic stores isn’t working.”
While many malls have continued to struggle and face closures, the overall mall landscape is seeing a mixed recovery.
Some high-tier malls are thriving thanks to Gen Z shoppers and evolving retail strategies, according to Miserandino.
“The successful malls are the ones reinventing themselves as experiences,” he said. “Look at Mall of America or American Dream. They’re destinations with roller coasters and attractions. The future is about experiences.”
Many communities are even taking legal action to force Namdar to either adhere to local building codes or pay hefty fines.
For example, Tiny Frazer Township, a community of 1,100 residents located outside of Pittsburgh, sued the company last fall for breaching its contract, allegedly failing to upkeep eight roads that Namdar owns.
Payne has taken the lead in holding Namdar accountable, initiated inspections of the mall’s exterior in March and documenting several safety issues like rusted-shut doors.
The building inspector’s efforts contributed to a magistrate judge issuing a $1.8 million fine against the company in July.
Following an appeal from Namdar, the fines had increased to approximately $12 million by August.
To date, Payne has issued 436 citations.
“Deplorable” road conditions have even slowed emergency services and damaged vehicles, according to local fire and emergency-medical-services chiefs, leading to a misdemeanor nuisance charge against Namdar.
Retailers like Walmart have even filed a federal lawsuit against the company, seeking $5 million in damages for lost business and repairs caused by the hazardous roads.
During a court hearing on August 21, Payne spent over an hour sharing evidence of maintenance issues.
Namdar responded by saying that the company wanted to fix the roads, but there were delays caused by continuing litigation as well as disagreement over how to patch them.
“When you cite every crack in the sidewalk or rust on a door, you’re putting pressure on the company to get the roads fixed,” Namdar attorney James Berent said at the hearing. “We want to get that figured out.”
As the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills struggles to stay afloat, America’s second-largest mall is facing a lawsuit as officials insist it’s flouting “blue laws.”
Meanwhile, a mall staple slated for 700 closures has reversed its plans after a $140 million buyout offer.
Residents have complained about the state of the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, with even the sign outside indicating the mall’s poor condition[/caption]
The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills is now best known for its potholes[/caption]
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