Pittsburgh Area Mall Sold for $100 at Foreclosure Auction

Blog posted On February 08, 2017

Pittsburgh Mills, a 1.1 million-square-foot mall in Frazer, Pennsylvania, sold at auction for just $100.  The sprawling shopping center once valued at $190 Million in 2007 was foreclosed by Wells Fargo in November 2015, when its developers did not pay back the $143 Million owed.  

Attorney Nicholas Godfrey, on behalf of Wells Fargo, purchased the mall for $100.  He was the only bidder because the transaction was a “consensual foreclosure.”  The mall’s general manager assures consumers that “we expect the day-to-day to continue.  The mall is open and ready for business.”

Traditional shopping malls around the country are closing their doors unless they are able to be repurposed.  One such shopping mall in Rhode Island now houses 38 micro apartments starting at $550/month.  Using former malls as cozy multi-family housing could solve the problem of housing growing populations at an affordable cost, while also making use of the existing structure. 

In urban regions experiencing an influx of recent college graduates joining the workforce, adding micro-housing units to old shopping malls not only provides housing, it revitalizes the commercial entities nearby.  With less shopping taking place in malls, this housing trend to convert the space could save other malls from foreclosure. 

Sources: Curbed, CNBC, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review