Century III Mall named to Pittsburgh’s ‘Top 10 Buildings to Save’ list

PITTSBURGH — The Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh has included Century III Mall in its annual Top 10 List of buildings to save. The group hopes to engage communities in conversations surrounding historic and abandoned properties around Western Pennsylvania. The mall has been closed since 2019, but at one time it was the third-largest mall in the world.

“Everyone is asking about Century III Mall,” said Matthew Craig, Executive Director of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh. “We are hoping to inspire a conversation about the interesting things it could become.”

The mall has 1.3 million square feet of leasing space. Built in 1979 on a former slag dump, at the height of its popularity, it housed 200 stores.

“They took this unusable site and turned it into a very impactful contributor to the community. It ended up becoming a real meeting spot for people and a very popular place,” Craig said.

Century III Mall deemed 'unsafe and uninhabitable' by code enforcement Century III Mall deemed 'unsafe and uninhabitable' by code enforcement

Moonbeam Capital, an investment company out of Las Vegas, owns the property. They didn’t immediately reply to Channel 11′s request for comment.

Nearby shopper Robin Szalkay told us, “I’d love to see Century III Mall go back up, but I don’t think that’s a possibility.”

You can check out the group’s 2021 Top Ten List here.