1 week Ago By Tawnya Panizzi
The owner of Pittsburgh Mills mall has built a real estate empire by buying dying malls and letting them deteriorate before selling off property and walking away, leaving helpless communities in its wake, according to officials where Namdar Realty Group owns assets. New York-based Namdar boasts a portfolio of nearly 400 properties, which includes more than 170 retail properties in 37 states. The commercial real estate investment and management firm owns seven traditional malls in Pennsylvania, including the Pittsburgh Mills, Uniontown and Beaver Valley malls in Western Pennsylvania.
Last year, Namdar reported a gross profit of $86.7 million, up nearly 10% over the previous year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Yet the company fails to invest in its properties, appeals property tax assessments — and often wins relief to the tune of tens of millions of dollars — and then sells the assets to developers at a sizeable profit.
“They have been buying malls for pennies on the dollar,” said Manus Clancy, head of data strategy at LightBox, a commercial real estate information and technology platform. Spending $20 million on a mall once worth $200 million doesn’t leave Namdar saddled in debt. “With the tenants they have, there’s money to cover a loan payment,” Clancy said.
“If you buy it cheap enough, you can run it without putting any money into it.” Steve Jellinek, retired head of CMBS research at DBRS Morningstar, told TribLive last year that the shifting landscape for commercial real estate helps Namdar’s approach. “From Namdar’s perspective, they think the property is (worth) more than whatever they paid for it and back taxes,” Jellinek said.
Clancy added: “It’s not great for communities. There’s enthusiasm and euphoria that someone is going to come in and turn things around, but it quickly turns into disappointment.” At Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer, Namdar has successfully appealed the assessed value of the property down 90% in six years, from $148 million to $14 million.
That is lost revenue for the township, Allegheny County and Deer Lakes School District, the latter of which was required to refund Namdar more than $2.3 million in taxes. The Mills mall — like many of Namdar’s properties — has fallen into disrepair.
Large potholes litter the parking lots. Anchor storefronts are mostly empty. Inside, 3 in 4 storefronts — 75% of leasable space — is vacant.
Instead of busy retailers, the mall is now home to Citizen’s School of Nursing, the Pittsburgh Reptile Show, Riverside Church and online auction store Mac.Bid , among fitness centers and a newsstand . Sprawling corridors that once buzzed with more than 120 retailers now draw only clusters of Silver Sneakers, senior citizens who use the indoor space for walking.
Four national retailers remain: Macy’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, JoAnn Fabric, and Bath and Body Works. “There’s a sense of hopelessness,” said Frazer Supervisor Lori Ziencik, who has been a township supervisor since 1996, long before the mall opened nearly 20 years ago. She has described Namdar as an absentee landlord.
“They know until this place is 100% empty, they make money. Their goal is to let it deteriorate,” she said. “The game plan is to get money in their pocket through reduced tax assessments.
“We wish they would sell it,” she added. “They’re not doing the region or the township any favors.” Founded in 1999 by Long Island business mogul Igal Namdar, the company started with the purchase of a strip mall.
Today, Namdar’s personal net worth is reported to be about $2 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index . Yet public officials say Namdar’s company is reluctant to share the wealth with investments in its properties. Namdar Realty Group officials, including Igal Namdar, did not return messages seeking comment.
Adelaide Godwin, vice president of UpSpring Public Relations, which represents Namdar, said multiple messages were sent to the Namdar team. No one responded to requests for an interview. UpSpring also represents Mason Asset Management of Great Neck, N.
Y., which is a Namdar partner company that co-owns many of Namdar’s properties. An administrative office inside the Mills mall is open for members of the public to drop in, but a newly hired property manager, David Witham, is based full time in Namdar’s Voorhees Town Center in New Jersey.
An office secretary said Witham does not work from Frazer but can be reached by email. Messages left for Witham at his Mills and Voorhees offices were not returned. Pittsburgh Mills When The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills opened in 2005, it was nothing short of a spectacle.
Shoppers flocked to the 1 million-square-foot mall — the second largest in Western Pennsylvania — flush with trendy retailers like H&M and hip hangouts like Lucky Strike Lanes. Lines formed for a glimpse of the dancing waiters at Johnny Rockets and to secure a seat at the mega-screen Cinemark movie theater. The mall boasted an indoor rope course with a zip line, miniature golf, two Starbucks locations and an arcade.
It was billed as a shopping and entertainment destination, designed to draw visitors from outside Western Pennsylvania, much like The Mills Corp.’s other malls. “It was over the top with all that it offered,” said Brackenridge resident Michele Laser, who, like other shoppers, was drawn to the new mall.
“It was a one-stop shop. I could bring my kids shopping and then hit the indoor playground.” But storm clouds gathered early.
Then-owners The Mills Corp., Zamias Services and KanAm Group pledged attractions like a NASCAR SpeedPark and indoor water park that never came to fruition. The plot of land outside Dick’s Sporting Goods, where the track was intended, still sits empty.
The Mills Corp. was in dire financial straits before the Pittsburgh Mills opening. Just 18 months after the launch, The Mills Corp.
(now Simon Property Group) sold its stake to Zamias Services. Damian Zamias, chairman and CEO, is out of the country and was not available for comment on the fate of Pittsburgh Mills, nor was anyone in his Johnstown-based headquarters, according to employees there. In the years between 2007 and 2015, major retailers like Borders bookstore and Sears Grand closed, and the mall fell into foreclosure in 2017.
The Mills property was auctioned to mortgage holder Wells Fargo for $100 in January 2017. Namdar Realty swooped in and paid $11 million for the property in 2018 but never appeared to invest further. The company avoided a sheriff’s sale last year after paying $11.
5 million in accrued special assessments. It said in an email to TribLive at the time that it was fully committed to the community, exploring options that included retail enhancements and redevelopment. The company called the mall “a top priority.
” But just last month, Frazer supervisors filed a lawsuit against Namdar, claiming the company ignored $4.5 million in repairs to the pothole-riddled roads. Godwin said in an email to TribLive that the company is working with township officials to complete the repairs.
Officials have heard that before. Last year, Namdar issued a statement that read, in part, “Our firm highly values the Pittsburgh Mills mall and the surrounding community. It holds a significant place in our portfolio.
” It’s similar lip service that Namdar has given officials in other towns where it owns properties. It’s also hard to hide reality. Same story, different city In location after location, the story remains the same: Namdar refuses to invest in its mall property and lets it fall into disrepair.
Namdar purchased Beaver Valley Mall in Center Township, Beaver County, in 2017 for about $24 million. Since then, “the interior of our mall has become a ghost town,” said Mike Sisk, a frustrated township supervisor who has served 24 years in local government. Established in 1970 with anchors that included Joseph Horne, Gimbels and Sears, Beaver Valley has faded into what visitors consider a dead mall.
“I can’t tell you how many retailers have left since Namdar bought it, but there’s about a quarter of what we had in the past,” Sisk said. “We still have anchors that are vibrant, but not much else.” Anchors such as Boscov’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, JC Penney and Rural King still attract shoppers — similar to Macy’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods at Pittsburgh Mills — but there are few other places to shop, Sisk said.
“The owners don’t seem to have an appetite to revitalize it,” Sisk said. At Logan Valley Mall in Altoona, Namdar is “not really investing in the space or trying to grow it or trying to get tenants,” said Altoona Mayor Matt Pacifico. The worn building once saw shoppers flocking to places like Eddie Bauer, PacSun and Applebee’s.
Today, the main tenant is Penn Highlands Community College, whose storefront campus encompasses more than 18,000 square feet on two floors. “There’s not much else going on there,” Pacifico said. “Auntie Anne’s might be the only thing left in the food court.
It’s all gone downhill drastically.” Near Penn State University, Nittany Mall is a withered shell of mostly empty storefronts, except for a small gym, discount retailers and tchotchke shops. Mike Bloom, assistant manager of College Township, said the site has struggled as anchors dropped off.
Rural King, Dunham’s Sports and Gabe’s remain. “We’re into our second and third generation of anchors and tenants,” Bloom said. “What we have is a lot of empty storefronts for the most part, along with a small-operation gym.
” Municipal leaders have spearheaded efforts to rezone the area around the mall in hopes of attracting businesses and boosting spending. “Our role is limited at the mall, so we want to encourage more development that makes the property around it more attractive,” Bloom said. “What we’re trying to do is build it more toward a live-work-recreate area and get more folks living there and dovetail it with places to shop and entertain.
” In August, township council approved spending $153,000 to repair a stormwater basin safety hazard that it said Namdar refused to fix . The board said Namdar would be back-charged for the costs. Leaders in Wyomissing near Reading said Namdar’s once-upscale Berkshire Mall has become an eyesore and public health hazard.
Famous as the preteen shopping haunt of Berks County native Taylor Swift, the mall was purchased by Namdar for $30 million in 2020. The BonTon anchor was condemned two years later for a partially collapsed roof. There are five significant sinkholes in the parking lot.
Last month, the borough’s code officer and fire chief issued a search warrant to install air quality monitors near the moldy store. “You can smell the mildew if you’re standing outside it,” Wyomissing Manager Michele Bare said. “We asked Namdar to sign a voluntary consent form, but they didn’t do it.
There is literally raw sewage seeping onto the sidewalks.” Born and raised in Wyomissing, Bare volunteered at the mall as a young adult. It was such a draw that lines would snake through the halls and extra police were contracted at the holidays for crowd control, she said.
Now, she said, “If a sinkhole swallowed the entire mall, as long as it was after hours and no one got hurt, it wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen.” The 54-year-old mall is about half full. It’s a similar story in Mansfield, Ohio.
Officials there reported in 2023 that some of the units at West Park Shopping Center had “become derelict,” with missing ceiling tiles, leaky roofs and mold. “You’ll find most of the (Namdar) properties sound the same,” said Mike Ross, president of the Franklin County Area Development Corp. in south-central Pennsylvania.
That’s where the now-abandoned Chambersburg Mall thrived for more than three decades until Namdar bought it in 2014. The last tenant, Black Rose Antiques & Collectibles, closed in June 2023. “Namdar acquired it and made zero investments,” Ross said.
The company even went so far as to purposely dodge a shot at revival, he said. Developers were eyeing the mall for a mini-casino as part of the state’s casino expansion. The township needed a ballot referendum and reached out to Namdar for cooperation.
“We told them this was a chance to get a boost for the county and the mall,” Ross said. “They refused to participate.” The casino was built 9 miles away in Shippensburg.
“We missed out on an opportunity, and we were disappointed that a stakeholder who would’ve directly benefited didn’t help,” Ross said. “They created a business model that works for them but not for the community where they’re located.” Missing out Nationwide, the number of malls has dwindled from 2,500 in the 1980s, according to the Wall Street Journal , to about just 700 large malls in 2022, the most recent figure available, according to Capital One Shopping , an online market research firm.
It would be easy to blame those statistics on pandemic shutdowns and the rise of online shopping. But a 2022 study by Coresight Research showed malls rebounded favorably after the pandemic, with about 10% higher occupancy than in 2019. Nationwide, space in lower-tier malls — those similar to Pittsburgh Mills, Logan Valley Mall and Nittany Mall — was about 89% leased after covid, according to Coresight.
But that hasn’t been the case locally. The Pittsburgh Mills food court, once boasting a Houlihan’s and 10 fast-food service counters, hasn’t served up a slice of pizza in years. Tables and chairs sit in an otherwise desolate wing with no operating vendors.
Soon, there won’t even be a place to grab a cup of coffee. Panera Bread, which is in a separate section of the mall, announced in September it plans to move across the street to the former Steak ‘n Shake. That area, known as The Village at Pittsburgh Mills, is booming with restaurants and retailers such as Lowe’s, Walmart and Sam’s Club.
The parcels there are owned by various developers that include The Shops at Mills PA Inc. and First National Realty Partners. At the traditional mall known as the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills, Namdar has successfully appealed assessment values by staggering amounts.
Namdar pays about $66,000 in property taxes to the county and about $49,000 to Frazer. Tax bills to both are current. For the township, tax revenue lost to the assessment appeals equals about 1 mill in taxes.
The company’s annual bill to Deer Lakes is about $330,000 — down from $3.3 million before the assessment was slashed. The lost revenue represents about 2.
5 mills in taxes for the school district. Because the property was reassessed in recent years, Namdar was due a refund of more than $2.3 million in taxes, school district spokesperson Shawn Annarelli said.
The sides agreed the district would issue payments in the form of credits to the mall’s annual tax bill. The refund will be paid in full this year. Holding out hope It is common practice for Namdar mall properties to be subdivided, with smaller parcels like stand-alone restaurants or strip malls sold for profit.
That’s what happened in Beaver Valley, Sisk said. “They subdivided the outparcels when they first bought the property and sold off the Burger King and the little strip,” he said. “But you don’t see much action with them trying to attract anything inside the mall.
” Namdar bought Enfield Square Mall in Connecticut, and several outparcels, for $11.4 million in 2018. The declining property was dubbed the deadest mall in the state by the YouTube series “Fleabitten Adventures,” but it remained open as Namdar raked in nearly $18 million for selling the adjoining Target and several self-standing restaurants.
In Wyomissing, leaders are biding time until the entire mall is sold. It is under contract with Motus Development. In the meantime, Bare said, Namdar was slapped with a 20-page Uniform Construction Code violation for the cratered parking lot, peeling paint and unsafe building equipment.
“Even though BonTon is condemned, they didn’t seal it,” Bare said. “We have been in there and found graffiti, so somebody is getting in.” At Voorhees Town Center in New Jersey, Namdar has entered into a sales agreement that calls for part of the property to be reimagined as a mixed-use residential and commercial development, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week.
Namdar purchased the mall in 2015 for $13.4 million. Voorhees Town Center “is clearly in need of resuscitation,” township Mayor Michael Mignogna told the newspaper .
In Elyria, Ohio, when Midway Mall became a ghost town, the Lorain County Port Authority stepped in and purchased it. Opened in 1966 and accessible from the Ohio Turnpike, it thrived for more than 50 years. Namdar bought it in 2017 for $4.
25 million. The company sold it six years later for nearly $14 million. By then, “there were a lot of empty storefronts, a handful of small churches and just a couple name-brand stores,” said Dawn Calvert, who runs the Elyria Department of Economic Development.
“The county commissioners realized that where the mall sits, halfway between Sandusky and Cleveland, is one of the most-trafficked corridors in the state. They saw the site as an opportunity, not only because of the traffic but because it represents Lorain County.” Anthony Gallo, president and CEO of the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, said the site will transition to light industry, which will create jobs and spur redevelopment.
However, the loss of the mall caused a slight uproar. “People remember it in its heyday with four department stores, a big food court and specialty shops,” Gallo said. “With access to three major highways, your mindset would say retail would thrive there but, once the anchors closed, there wasn’t any way to attract people to these huge empty buildings.
” Back at Pittsburgh Mills, Ziencik said Frazer officials don’t have the means to step in and buy the mall. Instead, they are left to shoulder the burden of angry shoppers who bombard Ziencik’s phone to complain about potholes and ask whether the township is “getting rich” off the property. “Our hands are tied,” she said.
“We can’t force them to sell it. “They just take, take, take.”.
