Appeals court upholds decision to raze former Century III Mall

By PAULA REED WARD
TribLive

A Pennsylvania appeals court Wednesday upheld West Mifflin’s decision to raze the former Century III Mall, a nuisance property whose demolition has been underway for more than a year.

The owners of the long-dilapidated mall that once stood as the crown jewel of shopping in Western Pennsylvania had appealed the decision by borough officials in July 2023 to condemn the property.

West Mifflin’s council, following a hearing a month earlier, found the property was a public nuisance, a danger to the community and that it should be demolished.

Century III Mall PA LLC appealed to Allegheny County Common Pleas Court, alleging that council failed to provide the owners with adequate notice of alleged violations prior to the hearing and that council ignored testimony by a structural engineer who testified on behalf of the mall’s owners, saying that the property could be repaired.

In a six-page opinion, Common Pleas Judge Mary McGinley ruled against the company, finding that borough council notified the mall no later than September 2018 of property violations and hazardous conditions. Additional violations were noted in subsequent years, she said.

McGinley also ruled that council did not ignore the engineer’s testimony, noting that they addressed it in their ultimate findings.

In the Commonwealth Court’s 12-page opinion, the three-judge appeals panel agreed with the lower court.

“The borough’s witnesses also recommended the building be condemned and razed due to the hazardous conditions, fire risks, structural damage, potential for collapse, ongoing and unpreventable presence of trespassers and danger to first responders,” the appellate court wrote.

“The borough presented evidence a reasonable mind could accept as adequate to support the conclusion that the mall was a nuisance that could not be rehabilitated and needed to be razed.”

Phil DiLucente, the attorney representing West Mifflin, said the mall owners are in charge of razing the mall and paying for it. DiLucente expects the demolition to be complete by the end of the year.

DiLucente said the owners then would have the opportunity to redevelop the property.

The mall, a 1.3 million- square-foot building, opened in 1979 and enjoyed decades of successful operation.

However, it sold at sheriff’s sale in 2013 for $10.5 million and continued to fall into disrepair.

Its last store, JCPenney, closed in October 2020.

In the years after that, it became a destination for urban explorers who would break in and take video of the deteriorating structure.

Following a fire in April 2023, and a teenager falling through the roof two months later, West Mifflin council moved to have it razed.

Then, in January 2024, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office filed criminal charges against the mall’s owners, including for risking a catastrophe and making a public nuisance.

While the DA’s office wanted to take possession of the property and pay for the demolition out of public funds, the mall’s owners acquiesced, and said they would handle it.

That work began in March 2024 and is continuing. Common Pleas Judge Jill E. Rangos is monitoring the progress and holds status conferences with the parties every couple months.

Steve Townsend, who represents the mall in the criminal case, said both the court and district attorney’s office have been happy with the progress.

“They’re getting it done as quickly as possible,” Townsend told TribLive on Thursday.