Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. aims to form group to buy Logan Valley Mall

Development Corp. looking for investors to buy Logan Valley Mall

The Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. is working to facilitate an effort to form a local investor group with the goal of purchasing the Logan Valley Mall from Namdar Realty Group, according to Steve McKnight, the corporation's president/CEO.

In August, McKnight told the Logan Township supervisors there is local interest in potentially purchasing the mall, but at that time, Namdar wasn't willing to yield to an acceptable price point that meets market conditions.

The mall, valued at $13.8 million, is reportedly worth $30 million to Namdar, Logan Township Manager Tim Brown said in August.

In an email Friday, McKnight said ABCD Corp. has established "an open and constructive dialogue" with Namdar, adding he hopes that dialogue continues in the future to create a realistic valuation of the mall.

Any offer that might result from this would be made by the private investor group and not ABCD Corp., McKnight said, noting the corporation itself will not be part of the investor group.

"We would commit to providing technical support and leveraging any applicable state or local programs to help with future development," McKnight wrote. "We all share the common goal of securing the property into local ownership. At that point, we can begin to look at various reuse options, which would likely include a variety of mixed-uses."

While it's a nice thing the corporation is trying to do, realistically, it may not be possible, said Jamie Powers, an assistant manager at Joseph Jacob Jewelers inside the mall.

"I don't know how anybody is going to take that over," Powers said, adding Namdar wants $30 million for the mall, which on top of that has a $10 million roof problem and is likely in need of several more millions in order to restore the mall to its former glory.

"I don't know what deal they're trying to do or what deal they can do," Powers said. "I guess if they have somebody that's willing to do something and they're going to use their money, who knows what somebody might do. But from an actual business standpoint, I don't think it makes a lot of sense."

Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.