FRAZER TOWNSHIP, Pa. — The future of Pittsburgh Mills may not involve shopping at all.
Channel 11 reported earlier this week that a developer wants to buy the once-bustling mall.
There are still a handful of businesses inside the mall, and those business owners would love to know what the future holds.
The deal hasn’t closed yet, but they are hopeful it will be something great for this community.
Inside the once-bustling Pittsburgh Mills Mall, a small Christmas tree just went up, but it’s been years since it was full of holiday shoppers. The mall is mostly rows of closed storefronts.
Soon there could be a new owner and a new vision for this property.
Virginia-based Comstock Holding Companies has signed an agreement to buy Pittsburgh Mills Mall.
The mall opened in 2005 and, in its heyday, was home to DICK’s Sporting Goods, JCPenney, Bath & Body Works and Macy’s. Now, they’re all gone.
The decline wasn’t just inside. The property’s severe potholes became such a problem that the district attorney filed charges against the property owner.
Comstock Company executives say they plan to work with Frazer Township, engineers and architects to create something with long-term economic value. But what that will look like and what it means for the businesses still here remains unclear.
While Comstock’s portfolio does include mall management, it also includes data center development.
“Whether they make a data center or get new businesses, at least they are doing something; progress is good!” Mike Gundel of Gundel’s Fun Zone at Pittsburgh Mills said.
Gundel has been trying to bring some life back into the mall. He’s owned Gundel’s Fun Zone here for the last year and a half.
He hopes it remains a mall, but more than anything, he wants to see something happen.
“I hope they keep it as a mall, but the people buying are known to have data centers. If they make it a data center, if it brings business to the area, that’s what the community needs: is change, instead of a stagnant mall, zombie mall, as people call it. We are bringing some life back into it!
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