Century III’s long-awaited redevelopment could begin to take shape in the “imminent future,” according to a prospective buyer who says he will begin talks with the borough to start the West Mifflin site’s redevelopment process.
Steve Panko, a Chicago-based developer and founder of Brightside CRE, said he’s interested in the property and wants to bring a “use that is phenomenal” to the region. Preliminary plans suggest that the site could become a mixed-use retail, office and residential space that could attract people from across the South Hills and Mon Valley.
Brightside’s interest emerges after years of vacancy at the mall, which underwent decades of decline, changing ownership and numerous court battles. West Mifflin’s borough manager hopes any redevelopment of the site will buoy the finances of a borough that’s saddled with tax-exempt properties and feeling the squeeze from stagnating real estate tax revenue.
“It’s a sad thing to let go, but hopefully it brings up a new chapter and the next generation will enjoy whatever’s there and we’ll be able to have some additional revenue here,” said borough manager Brian Kamauf. “My kids will never see Century III Mall, especially the way we see it … but that’s what happens, right?”
Commercial real estate firm Atlantic Retail, which has an office in Pittsburgh, released preliminary plans for the site last year, which proposed a mixed-use future for the property, including retail, office and residential space. The company — a retail advisory firm that works in shopping center leasing — couldn’t be reached for comment regarding its role in the development. Panko declined to comment on Atlantic’s role in the redevelopment.
Potential uses include:
- Two entertainment facilities totaling 60,000 square feet
- A 185,500-square-foot retail and office space
- A four-story, 160-unit residential facility
- A community amenity space
- Five restaurant buildings.
Panko’s firm has developed projects in Western Pennsylvania, including the Shops of Monroeville and the Tesla Center in Bridgeville.
Panko’s plans come as West Mifflin officials eye the potential benefits of the site’s redevelopment for the borough, which has been impacted by the mall’s yearslong decline.
“No matter what it is, the redevelopment is going to have a great impact,” Kamauf said. “The financials of West Mifflin Borough — the levels of that — depend obviously on what is built down there.”
Once one of America’s three biggest malls
The mall opened in 1979 on the site of a former U.S. Steel slag pile. It was once the largest mall in the Pittsburgh area and the third largest in the country.
For years, the mall flourished. In its heyday, it towered three stories and boasted over 200 stores and a food court.
Property ownership changed hands repeatedly over the years. One of the most significant transfers occurred in the early 2010s, when then-owners, the Simon Property Group, defaulted on a $79 million loan.
Century III Mall PA LLC acquired the property in 2013 for $10.5 million, according to Allegheny County property records. Any new owner would need to purchase the property from Century III Mall PA LLC.
West Mifflin’s inflation-adjusted property tax revenue has remained largely flat over the last 20 years as the mall has changed hands, hovering between $10 million and a little under $12 million since around 2006, according to data from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.
The borough’s property tax revenue has fallen from a 2020 high of $11.69 million to $10.2 million in 2024, according to the data. The revenues included both paid and delinquent taxes for the borough’s fiscal year.
The mall declined drastically over the last decade, reaching more than 80% vacancy by 2018. The region offered up Century III as a possible site for Amazon’s HQ2 during its ill-fated 2018 negotiations with the company.
The property’s primary parcel is assessed at $2 million, a far cry from its $58 million assessed value in the early 2010s.
In 2019, the mall’s main building closed. Its last standalone store, JCPenney, closed the following year.
From food court to criminal court
After 2019, the borough, Allegheny County and local school districts repeatedly sued the mall for unpaid property taxes. In 2023, the West Mifflin Borough Council voted to condemn the property.
The next year, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala filed two felony charges against the building’s owner, Century III Mall PA LLC, for causing and risking catastrophe and making a public nuisance.
The charges pushed along the property’s demolition, which began in 2024. The West Mifflin police department responded to 117 emergency calls at the mall from 2019 to 2023, according to the criminal complaint.
The complaint cited “hundreds of reported incidents” involving hazardous road conditions, vandalism, structure fires and other public safety issues that the owners made “no effort to remediate.” Although a representative of the owners met with borough officials in 2013 and outlined a plan to revive the site, that plan wasn’t implemented, according to the complaint.
The case is scheduled for a non-jury trial in July.
The mall’s final wall was demolished in early May. Neiswonger Construction, Inc., the company awarded the demolition contract, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In response to questions about the redevelopment, Zappala’s office declined to comment, citing the case’s pending trial date.
Shopping for taxable property
West Mifflin’s property tax millage rate is 10.53 mills. That’s 2.5 mills higher than in neighboring Baldwin Borough, which has a population similar to West Mifflin’s. Any use of the space would have a “tremendous impact” on the borough’s finances, according to Kamauf.
“There’s always roads to pave. We can put money in our parks. Equipment gets older. Everything costs more every day,” Kamauf said. “It could help us at the very least hold the line from raising taxes for years.”
Kamauf said tax revenue from a regenerated site could also help to expand services in a borough with a large amount of tax-exempt real estate.
In 2011, prior to a countywide property tax reassessment, West Mifflin’s boroughwide real estate value stood at $1.17 billion, according to county data; $234 million of that value, or about 20%, was exempt from the tax rolls. That property included the federal government-owned Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory and the county-owned Allegheny County Airport.
Following the countywide reassessment, the value of that tax-exempt real estate rose, even as the total value of real estate in the borough remained relatively unchanged. The percentage of exempt real estate jumped to nearly 30%.
West Mifflin is largely unique in the Mon Valley and South Hills in its share of exempt real estate. Of 48 area municipalities within those regions of Allegheny County, only Braddock has a higher percentage of exempt real estate, at nearly 33%.
“We have $421 million worth of exempt value. I’m sure if you compare that to a lot of communities, there’s communities that aren’t worth $421 million” in total assessed value, Kamauf said. “That’s a huge portion of untapped resources.”
Any property improvements to the current land could boost school district budgets, too. The West Mifflin Area School District encompasses most of the property.
The West Mifflin district projects a $2.8 million deficit for its 2026-2027 school year budget. Like many of Allegheny County’s districts, it has been contemplating a tax hike.
Kamauf said the borough would benefit most if the Century III site is turned into a “regional asset,” such as a convention center or a hockey rink, that will bring in visitors from beyond West Mifflin.
“I don’t know the economics why [the mall] didn’t work out and really don’t want to take any guesses, but it can work. Unfortunately, ours didn’t and now we just have to help figure out what it can be and how it can benefit … not only us, but become a regional attraction,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be at ribbon-cutting someday, and we’ll get to enjoy it before I retire.”
Lucas Dufalla is the Southern Communities reporter at Pittsburgh’s Public Source and can be reached at lucas@publicsource.org.
This story was fact-checked by Ada Perlman.
