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A shadow of itself: Decline of Logan Valley Mall upsets shop owners

Decline of Logan Valley Mall upsets shop owners

By Matt Churella 12 min read

The Logan Valley Mall -- once assessed at $62 million but now listed on the county's tax rolls at slightly more than $15 million -- needs more stores and better maintenance to keep it viable, said some tenants who have been complaining for years about the mall's deteriorating conditions.

From broken escalators to a partially closed parking garage and moldy, leaking ceiling tiles, several second-level tenants said business has slowed and something needs to be done to revive the once-bustling mall.

The complaints stem from several tenants on the second level of the mall, as those on the main level -- despite wishing for more foot traffic -- aren't experiencing the same difficulties.

Joseph Jacob Jewelers, on the second floor between Penn Highlands Community College and JCPenney, has seen sales drop more than 40% over the last year because customers lack a convenient way to enter their store, said Jamie Powers, the jewelry store's assistant manager.

There are three sets of escalators in the mall. The set near Pennsylvania Highlands Community College's Blair Center hasn't worked in nearly two years while the other two sets -- located near the food court and JCPenney, respectively -- work intermittently, Powers said. A fourth set is inaccessible, inside the now-shuttered Macy's.

According to Powers, 70% of his store's business comes off the mall's third-floor parking deck, which was closed for several weeks during the Christmas season because of unplowed snow.

"That killed our business," Powers said, noting the deck's auto ramp on the west side, near the mall's F entrance -- the closest to Joseph Jacob Jewelers -- has been closed since November due to concrete falling off the walls.

"It fell on some cars and so they shut that (ramp) down," Powers said.

Drivers can still enter the deck's third floor from the east ramp near JCPenney, park near the closed auto ramp to the west and use the mall's F entrance. But having the deck partially closed "creates a problem for" second-floor business tenants, Powers said.

"I'm thinking within 10 years that thing is going to collapse," Powers said of the parking garage. "It's already got issues from that standpoint, and in the wintertime, if it snows, they won't plow it."

On top of that, Powers said, the elevator is sometimes out of order and the mall doesn't have a public staircase inside for people to access stores in the upper level.

Customers 'out of breath'

If only one of the two other sets of escalators is working, that means customers who park in the lower level of the garage have to walk through the mall, take the escalator upstairs and then walk across the top level of the mall to reach his store, Powers said.

"With one escalator running, I have people coming in here literally out of breath," said a manager at AT&T, who noted the store has submitted multiple maintenance tickets with the mall's management about "major issues" over the last year.

Last year, some of the store's ceiling tiles caved in, the manager said, noting mall officials later patched the ceiling.

"They don't ever actually fix the roof because it's too expensive," the manager said.

Currently, there's an empty ceiling tile in the store because of a roof leak the manager said he's been trying to have fixed since December.

Because of the leak, there are noticeable stains on several display phones within the store.

One AT&T employee said the display phones are "disgusting to touch," noting the leak has affected how they're able to sell phones to customers.

The leak could cause the store to fail an inspection, "which is a big problem," the manager said, adding the mall's air conditioning doesn't work properly and nearly every store on the second floor was infested with gnats in July.

"There's been a gnat infestation across the whole top floor. I went through and asked everybody," the manager said as he swatted a gnat away from his face during a July 21 interview.

Since then, the gnat infestation has subsided, but there are still gnats flying around the mall, an AT&T employee said.

Ultimately, the broken set of escalators has taken "the biggest toll" on customer foot traffic, the employee said, adding the store's district manager has tried to contact the mall's owners -- Namdar Realty Group -- to no avail.

Namdar Realty Group, alongside Mason Asset Management, purchased the 40-acre mall property from Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust for $33.2 million in September 2017.

Since then, many businesses have closed up shop at the mall, including the AMC movie theater and anchors such as Sears and Macy's.

According to records obtained at the Blair County Tax Assessment Office, the mall's total assessed value has gradually declined since Namdar purchased it in 2017, the same year the county's reassessment took effect.

In 2018, the mall's total assessed value was $62 million. It was assessed at $37.5 million on Nov. 13, 2019; $26.5 million on Dec. 4, 2019; $23.9 million in 2020; and $22.1 million from 2021-22. Its current assessed value, $15.3 million, has been in place since 2023.

The mall's management staff said they are not permitted to comment publicly on specific issues and redirected questions to Namdar Realty Group's public relations department.

Attempts to reach Namdar officials for comment were not successful.

Sales down 'drastically'

Powers said Joseph Jacob Jewelers is actively trying to get out of its lease with Namdar Realty Group at the local mall and several other Namdar-owned malls in a lump deal.

According to Powers, Namdar won't let the company out of its local lease, for which Joseph Jacob Jewelers pays about $5,500 per month.

Powers said the store's current lease at Logan Valley Mall expires in May 2026 and said he's aware of a few other stores that are planning their exit from the mall at about the same time.

If Joseph Jacob Jewelers were to break its lease agreements with Namdar, the company would have to pay out about $300,000 total for all of the Namdar malls in which it has stores, Powers estimated.

Reggie Gadsden, who owns R&A Cafe in the food court and Executive Barberz on the upper level near the mall's set of broken escalators, said business at the barber shop has dropped "drastically" since the escalators went out of commission nearly two years ago.

According to Powers, state officials who visited the mall several months ago identified the escalators as a safety hazard and made mall officials block them off with wooden boards. Paper signs posted on the boards indicate the escalators are closed for safety purposes and repairs are underway.

Both motors in the broken set need to be "completely replaced," which would cost about $30,000 each, Powers said.

Although annoyed the mall's conditions haven't improved, Gadsden said the barber shop has built up a strong name for itself and isn't struggling financially.

"People downstairs can't come upstairs, so that lessens up business and that makes the sales drop for the people that's upstairs," Gadsden said, adding he plans to negotiate a decrease in his rent if the escalator next to his shop isn't fixed by the time his lease expires in 2027.

"If you want me to stay, lower the rent. If not, I'm out," he said.

An employee at Maurices, which is next to Joseph Jacob Jewelers, said she often hears the same complaints from customers about the mall's conditions.

"Our business does well but we get customers complaining," the employee said. "We hear a lot about the escalators not working and people having a hard time getting up and down."

While an anchor, but not a store, Penn Highlands Community College officials said in a statement to the Mirror that the mall's conditions have not had a direct impact on its enrollment over the last couple years.

"Students choose Pennsylvania Highlands Community College for the quality of our academic programs, the dedication of our faculty, the individualized support we provide and the overall value of the educational experience," the statement reads. "We remain committed to being a positive presence in Blair County and are optimistic about our future in the region."

Not a violation

Logan Township Manager Tim Brown and Code Enforcement Officer Charles Dively redirected media questions to Jim Patterson, chairman of the Logan Township board of supervisors.

Patterson said having the broken set of escalators closed off does not violate any of the township's health, safety and welfare codes.

"If there's safety issues and they can secure it, there's not a whole lot we can do other than pay for an inspection to have the building condemned," Patterson said, adding, "We have not been notified of anything by the Logan Valley Mall owners on anything that's going on."

In a later interview, Patterson said he was advised by the township's solicitor, Dan Stants, not to comment on the matter.

"It's a private matter" between lessee and lessor, Stants reportedly told Patterson, who said it is not the township's job to inspect the mall's conditions.

According to Logan Township United Fire Department Chief Rusty Shoenfelt, Logan Valley Mall is in the Lakemont Volunteer Fire Company's jurisdiction.

Lakemont Volunteer Fire Company Chief Michael Yon said, in the event of a fire on the mall's upper level, the broken escalators are not a safety concern because there are other ways for people to get out of the mall.

Yon said the broken escalators can still be used as steps to exit the mall. When told that the escalators are boarded off and can't be accessed, Yon said, "There's still other ways for those guys to get out" in the event of an emergency.

"It's one of those things where they don't have to be up and running. There's nothing we can do or say about that," Yon said. "They still have a way out, so it's still good."

Yon said he understands how the inconvenience would affect businesses in the mall.

"But on our part and on the township's part, it's not really affecting the way that we do things," he said.

In the past year, Yon said the fire company has been called for fire alarm incidents at the mall. But fire alarms tend to go off automatically when dust gets into the systems due to the weather changing from cold to hot and vice versa, he said.

"It's nothing out of the ordinary. It's the nature of the beast," Yon said.

Rumors of a sale unfounded

For the past two months, Patterson said he's heard rumors that Namdar has been planning to sell the mall.

"If that's the case, or they're in negotiations to sell the mall, maybe that's why they're not repairing anything," Patterson suggested.

However, rumors that the mall was going to be sold have been circulating for years, Powers, the jewelry store's assistant manager, said.

Reportedly, the mall has been on the market to be sold for at least two years, possibly longer, Powers said, adding Namdar received offers but turned them down.

"He had a couple offers, and I'm guessing they were low-ball offers. But other than that, I haven't heard anything," Powers said.

Namdar officials did not return an email requesting comment on the mall's status.

Powers said he heard rumors that UPMC was going to buy the mall years ago and that a local college once had their eyes on the property. Both scenarios either weren't true or fell through, he said.

"That's one of the problems with Altoona is you get all of these rumors and you find out that 90% of them are nonsense," Powers said.

Potential contamination

A portion of the mall's food court behind Auntie Anne's pretzel store was closed off with yellow caution tape in July. In the restricted area were three black trash cans collecting water from the missing ceiling tiles above.

The caution tape and trash cans have since been removed.

"How, from a contamination standpoint, can anybody think this is a good idea," Powers asked rhetorically while observing the area July 21.

In a nearby hallway where the food court's restrooms are located, a black tarp hangs from a corner ceiling light with two ceiling tiles missing. In the tarp is a hose that leads to a trash can down below.

In another hallway, where back entrances to stores are located, several floor tiles were noticeably missing while others appeared to be cracked. There was water damage on some ceiling tiles.

"It's really bad in here. This is deplorable and it's really gone downhill in the last three years," Powers said while looking in the hallway.

One food court employee the Mirror spoke with said he hopes the mall can be restored.

"In my personal opinion, the mall is a great place for people to come and get connected with other people," the employee said.

"I personally think there should be more stores and stuff coming back in here so we can get more of the public back out. (But) the mall should be improved."

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