December 25, 2024
Monroeville Mall owner puts shopping complex up for sale

The Monroeville Mall could have a new owner soon.

Tennessee-based owner CBL Properties is marketing the two-level shopping complex and surrounding storefronts for sale through real estate company JLL without naming a price.

The 187-acre property includes the main building, an adjacent strip mall, the streetscape expansion near the front entrance and outparcels Best Buy and Firestone.

JLL describes the mall as a sprawling redevelopment opportunity with strong tenants and a prime location. Anchors include Macy’s, JCPenney, Full Throttle Adrenaline Park, Cinemark, Dick’s Sporting Goods and its outlet-style spinoff, Going Going Gone.

The complex can hold more than 150 retailers. A vacancy rate was not included in the listing.

The mall was built in 1969 and last renovated in 2003. The multimillion-dollar overhaul added the streetscape area and refurbished the food court, among other changes.

In its heyday, the mall featured a regulation-size ice rink, called the Ice Palace, used by the Pittsburgh Penguins, Olympic hopefuls and figure skaters. Restaurants such as Schrafft’s lined the outside of the rink.

The Ice Palace was replaced by a food court in 1984.

One of movie director George Romero’s zombie horror films, 1978’s “Dawn of the Dead,” was filmed in the mall.

JLL senior managing director Claudia Steeb declined to comment.

CBL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The firm’s fortunes have taken a turn for the worse since it purchased the property for $231 million in 2004.

It now operates just 43 malls, including the Monroeville and Westmoreland malls, a substantial decrease from when it sought bankruptcy protection in 2020.

Monroeville Mall has seen negative headlines with shootings and large fights over the past decade. In 2019, a group of young men just outside the mall fired up to 10 shots at another group of men who were inside at the Macy’s Backstage store.

In 2020, a 20-year-old man was shot and killed inside the mall. In 2015, someone fired six shots inside the mall and hit three people, including two bystanders.


Jack Troy is a TribLive reporter covering the Freeport Area and Kiski Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on Penn Hills municipal affairs. A Pittsburgh native, he joined the Trib in January 2024 after graduating from the University of Pittsburgh. He can be reached at [email protected].

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