Once a thriving retail, restaurant and entertainment hub, the Parkway Center Mall soon will be little more than dust in the wind.
Thirty-four years after it opened, the sprawling complex on a bluff just off the Parkway West is coming down.
Kossman Development Co., the owner, has begun to demolish the 455,000-square-foot former shopping mecca to clear the way for a proposed office, residential, retail and entertainment development.
“The existing structure needed to be removed in preparation for that. So this is a step in that direction,” said Steve Weisbrod, Kossman’s vice president of business development.
The mall has been empty since Kmart closed its doors in early 2013, the death knell for a property that once teemed with stores like Zayre, Syms Corp., Phar-Mor, Thrift Drug, Kay-Bee Toys, and a David Weis catalog showroom.
Hungry shoppers could refuel at Chi Chi’s restaurant or in a food court. Confetti provided the night life.
Now the only store still active on the property is a Giant Eagle grocery store, which remains open and will continue to operate through the demolition. The store has several years left on its lease, Mr. Weisbrod said.
By late November, nearly all of the mall should be gone for good. All that will be left standing will be the Giant Eagle building and some space above and beside it, about 180,000 square feet in all. Kossman will be installing still more signs to let people know the Giant Eagle is still there.
As word has spread about the mall’s demise, some people have stopped to take photos of it, Mr. Weisbrod said. Others have called to ask if they could get into the old Chi Chi’s space one last time.
No timetable has been set for the start of the redevelopment.
Kossman submitted a conceptual plan to the city earlier this year outlining a major mixed-use development that would include retail, offices, housing, and entertainment.
The plan also called for a linear park that would feature trails, a challenge park, an environmental center and amphitheater, a pond, and picnic pavilions as well as an X-Park with a concrete skate park, ramps for BMX riders, and other amenities.
“We still have all of those ideas as part of our long range plan,” Mr. Weisbrod said.
Nonetheless, he added it could be a couple of years “before we will be able to move forward with anything significant.”
Expanding the Giant Eagle also could be an option, Mr. Weisbrod said, although he stressed that Kossman is not in any specific discussions with the O’Hara-based grocer about that at this time.
Dick Roberts, spokesman for Giant Eagle, said no changes are planned right now. “The store has remained open serving customers over the years. It will continue to do that, pending the future redevelopment plans by the owner,” he said.
City Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, whose district includes Parkway Center Mall, has been supportive of Kossman’s proposal for a mixed-used development. She said as far as she knows, the developer intends to move forward with the concept.
“We are working with the developer on the plans and making sure the community has the proper input when the time is appropriate,” she said.
The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, which had a financial role in the original mall project, has given its consent to the demolition.
Kevin Acklin, URA board chairman and chief of staff to Mayor Bill Peduto, said the city has been working closing with Kossman and the councilwoman on the proposed project.
“We believe this site has promise to be a destination location due to its proximity to the parkway and south Pittsburgh neighborhoods,” he said.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: August 12, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
