Whitehall Mall

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Whitehall Mall
Whitehall Mall Whitehall, PA October 2019.jpg
Exterior of Whitehall Mall, October 2019
Whitehall Mall
Location Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania, U.S. [1]
Coordinates 40°38′00″N75°29′10″W / 40.633264°N 75.486245°W / 40.633264; -75.486245
Opening dateSeptember 26, 1966;57 years ago (1966-09-26) [2]
DeveloperDonnelly and Seus Properties Inc. [3]
Owner Washington Prime Group [4]
No. of anchor tenants 2 [4] [5]
Total retail floor area 603,475 square feet (56,064.7 m2) [6] [lower-alpha 1]
Parking2,558 spaces [7]

Whitehall Mall is a shopping mall located in Whitehall Township, Pennsylvania. [1] It is anchored by Kohl's. [4] [8] Whitehall Mall was one of the Lehigh Valley's first malls and is located across from the Lehigh Valley Mall. [2] [5]

Contents

History

20th century

Interior of Whitehall Mall in October 2019 Whitehall Mall Whitehall, PA October 2019 - 49276438066.jpg
Interior of Whitehall Mall in October 2019

Land for the mall (19 acres (7.7 ha)) was purchased for $125,000 from a farmer and groundbreaking occurred in 1965. [2] [9] Zollinger's opened before the mall on August 15, 1966, with the rest of the mall opening on September 26, 1966. [2] The mall had 52 stores including Sears, Weis Markets, Woolworth's, and Zollinger's. [2] [10] [11] Whitehall Mall expanded in 1973, and in 1978 Leh's opened, replacing the closed (bankrupt) Zollinger's. [2] [12] Kravco become co-owner of the mall with PREIT in 1977 for 4.5 million. [3] Clover opened in March 1982. [13] Sears interior underwent a major overhaul in 1984. [14] The mall received a lowered tax assessment after settling with the county, township, and school district in 1985. [15] [16]

In 1987, a suspicious fire started in the back of the mall that later caused a wall of the Leh's to be demolished. [17] Sears interior underwent another overhaul in 1994 that added 35,000 sq. ft. to the sales floor, and converted the former second floor offices to store space. [18] Several stores suffered damage due to a large roof leak in January 1990, with all stores reopening after a few days, and the roofs replacement planned for April. [19] [20] Leh's closed in June 1996 due to bankruptcy, with Gallery Furniture taking over its former space in 1997. [21] Clover closed in 1996, with its replacement Kohl's opening in April 1997. [5] [22]

Whitehall Mall received a $15 million renovation in 1998, where it was almost totally demalled, except for a portion near Kohl's. [5] [23] [24] Retaining the traditional mall look was determined to not be cost effective. [9] Sears was expanded during this time. [5] Three additional buildings were added to the mall's grounds during the renovation. [24] Weis Markets closed during renovations that almost doubled its space. [10] Plaza Theater closed in June 1999 due to having only two screens and being obsolete. [25] The theater was previously operated by Budco, and by AMC from 1987 to 1996. [26]

21st century

The opening of Gold's Gym in the mid-2000s was delayed due to design changes. Gold's Gym would use the former Leh's store and Plaza Theater. [25] [27] Raymour & Flanigan relocated to the mall in 2012, occupying two vacant storefronts. [28] [29] PREIT sold its 50% ownership of the Whitehall Mall in 2014 to Washington Prime Group, the mall's other owner. [4] [30] Sears closed in February 2020. [31] PA Fitness (former Gold's Gym) closed in January 2022. [32]

Portions of the mall began to be redeveloped in 2023. Demolition of the former Sears began in June 2023 with Floor & Decor announced as its replacement. [33] [34] Buy Buy Baby and Harmon Face Values would close in July 2023, with Bed Bath & Beyond closing in August 2023. [35] [36] [37] The former Old Country Buffet would be demolished in September 2023 and be replaced by parking. [37] Floor & Decor would open on December 21, 2023. [38]

Notes

  1. Information varies, but all numbers are above 590,000 sq ft.

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References

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40°38′07″N75°29′00″W / 40.6353°N 75.4833°W / 40.6353; -75.4833