Skip to content
Business

Another dying mall in the Philly area may get a makeover

A Montgomery County developer submitted preliminary plans to knock down nearly 850,000 square feet of the existing mall and build a smaller retail building in its place.

Shoppers walk through a Macy's department store at Concord Mall in 2022. Preliminary redevelopment plans, which include a partial demolition of the mall, have received conditional approval from New Castle County.
Shoppers walk through a Macy's department store at Concord Mall in 2022. Preliminary redevelopment plans, which include a partial demolition of the mall, have received conditional approval from New Castle County. Read moreAFP via Getty Images

A North Wilmington mall may be the region’s next shopping center to undergo a transformation.

Elkins Park-based Abrams Realty & Development has submitted preliminary plans to knock down nearly 850,000 square feet of the existing Concord Mall and build 233,000 square feet of new retail space in its place, according to documents filed in New Castle County.

Abrams Realty is also behind stalled plans to turn the dead Exton Square Mall in Chester County into a mixed-use complex.

At Concord Mall, Boscov’s — which has a history of outliving malls it once anchored, including Exton Square — would remain, according to the plans. So would the former Sears and two other outparcel buildings that house Sprouts Farmers Market, Best Buy, Ulta Beauty, and T-Mobile.

» READ MORE: How Boscov’s survives in the shadows of so many dead malls

The new, smaller retail building would be constructed in the center of the mall’s current footprint, the documents show, and would be separated from the Boscov’s and former Sears building by parking lots. The Sears has sat vacant since it closed in 2020.

Concord Mall, which opened in 1969 on U.S. Route 202, once had more than 90 tenants. Now, many of its stores are vacant, according to news reports.

The preliminary redevelopment plans for the 60-acre property received conditional approval in September, according to the New Castle County Department of Land Use.

Officials “have advised the applicant of revisions that will need to be made in order for construction plan documents to be submitted,” Dawn Thompson, New Castle County planning manager, said in an email.

» READ MORE: Philly-area malls aren't dead yet. But they are changing.

The developers have three years to move forward with their application before it expires, according to the county code.

The mall can remain open during the review process, Thompson said.

Abrams Realty executives did not return requests for comment Monday. Neither did those at Namdar, the Great Neck, N.Y.-based mall owner known to scoop up distressed complexes and leave them in disrepair.

In South Jersey, Namdar also owns the long-dead Echelon Mall, now called the Voorhees Town Center, which recently hit another hurdle in its decades-long redevelopment quest. The North Jersey developer who wanted to make the complex a mixed-use destination said last week that he had to withdraw because his company could not acquire a $90 million state tax credit.

» READ MORE: The long-dead Echelon Mall hits another redevelopment roadblock

Namdar also owns the Hamilton Mall in Mays Landing, which New Jerseyans have called one of the state’s deadest malls, and is in the process of buying part of the Willow Grove Park Mall, which appears healthy relative to many other midsize malls.

Namdar has not returned repeated requests for comment about its Philly-area portfolio.

    Erin McCarthy
    As the Consumer Reporter, I tell stories about how Philadelphians are spending their money.