Pittsburgh Mills Mall to be sold in January

[TheFugitive]

Here is a mall that is dying just 11 years after being built!

http://triblive.com/local/valleynewsdispatch/11651999-74/mall-property-mills

My daughter was just there.  Says it was every bit as dead as Century III Mall
which is 37 years old.

[TheFugitive]

Pittsburgh Mills Mall has been sold in a foreclosure auction.
The buyer was Wells Fargo.

The price?.....$100

That's not $100 million.......that's one hundred dollars!

http://www.wpxi.com/news/pittsburgh-mills-mall-sold-to-bank-for-100-at-foreclosure-auction/485493407

[retailisking]

The auction was a formality in that Wells Fargo had already foreclosed on it two years ago
http://www.post-gazette.com/local/north/2017/01/18/Pittsburgh-Mills-auctioned-off-without-change-in-ownership/stories/201701180167

[retailisking]

Part of the problem is that Mills didn't execute on its initial strategy for the mall
http://www.retaildive.com/news/pittsburgh-mall-sells-for-100-thats-not-a-typo/434335/

[TheFugitive]

The Allegheny Health Network (an alliance between Allegheny/West Penn Hospitals and
Highmark BC/BS) has opened a nursing school in Pittsburgh Mills Mall.

https://www.wtae.com/article/allegheny-health-network-citizens-school-of-nursing-opens-at-pittsburgh-mills-mall/25736862

[TheFugitive]

Pittsburgh Mills has continued to empty out, well on it's way to becoming the next
Century III (with that happening in less than half the lifecycle).

https://triblive.com/local/valley-news-dispatch/pittsburgh-mills-malls-uncertain-future-worries-shoppers-frazer-officials/

A recurring theme in these dying mall stories is the shady, absentee, disinterested ownership
that is nonresponsive and/or lying to local officials.

[mixedday]

I believe this site could have some level of success after being demalled. Of course, Namdar won't invest in such a plan.

But, from this map, this gives an idea of the anchors:
https://www.mallscenters.com/uploads/plans/galleria-at-pittsburgh-mills-1132.jpg

I'd keep macy's,  Panera (which is right next to it), Jo Ann, Dick's and the movie screen, the fitness center, and the nursing school (former IIT Tech space), perhaps just keep a small area of enclosed mall space around macy's, but then pretty much demolish the enclosed part of the mall. I'd pay off JCPenney to close for demolition. It'd then be suitable for a promenade of some sorts.

Even though the area might not be the most accessible in the Pittsburgh market, I think there could be some mixed use that might work. Outdoor retail, maybe office, satellite university campus, and/or luxury apartments on some side of the property as well.

In South Jersey, I'd suggest a demall of the Hamilton Mall after JCPenney closes. It's smaller than Pittsburgh Mills, but I think an outdoor promenade would work similarly. Sears already closed leaving, JCPenney by the summer, leaving just macy's as an anchor on one end of the mall.

[TheFugitive]

luxury apartments on some side of the property as well.

If you think that would work you have obviously never been to the area.
It is semi-rural, on the far northeastern fringes of Pittsburgh.  Recent improvements
to PA Route 28 have made it a bit more accessible, but not much.  People who
are in the market for high-end apartments would want to be in more urbane
settings like Mount Lebanon, Mount Washington or Shadyside.  Not out here
in the sticks where the museums and the symphony are 45 minutes away.

[mixedday]

Ugh, No. Luxury apartments as typically marketed are just newer apartments with some amenities, and in most cases not high end apartments near symphonies or museums. Most the suburbs are not near symphonies and museums.  

The mall is near U-PARC, not too far from the Turnpike and recently shown interest from the nursing school. It has macy's and other mix of businesses there and its proximity to the PA Turnpike. It's not just Dollar General as the business around. The key thing with this area IMO, as semi rural is it is better area for some redevelopment than one that has an associated high crime factor, like Greenspoint Mall in Houston.

[TheFugitive]

Ugh, No. Luxury apartments as typically marketed are just newer apartments with some amenities, and in most cases not high end apartments near symphonies or museums. Most the suburbs are not near symphonies and museums.  

The mall is near U-PARC, not too far from the Turnpike and recently shown interest from the nursing school. It has macy's and other mix of businesses there and its proximity to the PA Turnpike. It's not just Dollar General as the business around. The key thing with this area IMO, as semi rural is it is better area for some redevelopment than one that has an associated high crime factor, like Greenspoint Mall in Houston.

In Pittsburgh many of the suburbs ARE near symphony and museums.  The city proper is
geographically quite small.  Most of what has a Pittsburgh 152XX zip code is actually NOT within the City of Pittsburgh itself. Mount Lebanon is perhaps 3 to 5 miles from downtown, depending on where you are in the borough.  The sort of people who would prefer to live in a semi-rural location near Pittsburgh Mills and be near the turnpike would tend to prefer single family homes.

There are some places near the mall (like New Kensington) which have a bad reputation
for high crime.

[mixedday]

Being 20 or more mins away by drive is not the near or of the area, I was referring. Apartments or some type of residential is often incorporated in mixed use and that's only why I mentioned. Sometimes mixed use doesn't include apartments, but I believe this site would be ideal for mixed use redevelopment. It's fine if you disagree but I have been to the area and familiar with U Parc campus, one of the positively viewed sites near it that is out there.