The owners of a Pittsburgh-area mall have been sued by its township, which accuses the owners of not meeting their contractual obligations of maintaining the roads under their jurisdiction and claiming it would cost the municipality $4.5 million to fix them.
Namdar Realty Group, also listed in the lawsuit under Pitt Galleria Realty LLC, Pitt Realty LLC, Pitt Galleria CH LLC, and Pitt Galleria Nassim LLC, has owned the Pittsburgh Mills Mall in Frazer since 2018, buying the 1.1-million-square-foot property for $11.35 million.
The New York-based company has had a troubled relationship with Frazer since.
Failing to pay millions in taxes, with Frazer officials having taken the company to court three times, the mall was slated to go to a sheriff’s sale last year. But the sale was canceled at the last minute when Namdar paid off all of its delinquent taxes.
Last week, Frazer filed the lawsuit against Namdar, saying that when the company bought the mall, it agreed to uphold the original contract from 2003 and the stipulation in it to maintain the roadways. Frazer claims inaction on repairing the roadways also constitutes a public safety issue.
The company agreed “to be responsible for the cost of repair, upkeep, and maintenance of such public infrastructure items, including but not limited to snow removal, repaving, and rebuilding of the roads’ base or subbase (other than the interchange) ...” at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall, Frazer said in the lawsuit.
Municipal officials claim Namdar hasn’t held up that part of the agreement.
“Over the last several years, the roads have generally been poorly maintained,” Frazer said in the lawsuit. “Today, the roads are in disrepair, filled with significant potholes, and have created dangerous driving conditions for township residents and patrons of the Pittsburgh Mills Mall. The township has received numerous inquiries regarding the state of the roads, and its citizens demand a solution.”
Most of the roads in the complex — both around the mall itself and the adjacent shopping center that includes Lowe’s, Sam’s Club and Walmart, among others — are included in the lawsuit.
Numerous sections of the roadway — including more heavily traveled areas in and around the intersection that joins the mall side and the shopping center side — are riddled with wide, deep potholes, often too close together to avoid driving over without having to cross lanes.
Municipal officials claim they have tried to work with Namdar to fix the roads. In April, the township “demanded” that the company address the troubled roads by May 10, 2024, which Namdar acknowledged, but officials say no action was taken.
In an email Tuesday to the Post-Gazette, a Namdar spokesperson said the company is “working with the city to complete the repairs, and that plans and scope have been submitted to the city for approval.”
Frazer officials Tuesday told the Post-Gazette that as of late Monday, they had received some information from Namdar indicating that the company is working on a plan to fill the potholes and pave the roads, but officials said they were not given specific details.
In 2023, Frazer’s secretary and treasurer Lori Ziencik described Namdar as an absentee landlord, citing its lack of payment of delinquent taxes at the time, along with not taking care of the mall itself or the roads around it.
When Namdar purchased the mall in 2018, the shopping center had already been struggling financially for years. At the time of the purchase, the mall had a 30% vacancy rate.
Since acquiring the space, the owners have leased more than 250,000 square feet that has “contributed to an increase in the overall occupancy rate,” a Namdar spokesperson said in an email last year.
Namdar declined to provide the mall’s vacancy rate at the time. According to the mall’s website, the center now holds fewer than 15 retailers.
Frazer is not alone in filing complaints against Namdar.
At several malls that the Post-Gazette examined last year, Namdar has failed to maintain the buildings, leaving collapsed roofs, burst pipes and a litany of other concerns. In numerous towns, officials rattled off code violations, condemnation notices and demolition orders. On many occasions, the company either hasn’t responded or neglected to make repairs, records and interviews with officials show.
First Published: September 24, 2024, 5:46 p.m.
Updated: September 24, 2024, 11:30 p.m.
