McKnight Road / US 19 and Babcock Boulevard
Allegheny County (Ross Township), Pennsylvania
The first fully-enclosed shopping mall in the Keystone State was built on a 29 acre plot, located 7.5 miles north of Pittsburgh's Golden Triangle. The complex started out as the McKNIGHT SHOPPING CENTER, a single-level (55,000 square foot) strip plaza of seventeen stores, which opened for business December 10, 1953.
In the early 1960s, Maryland's James W. Rouse Company purchased the strip center, renovated it, and added a fully-enclosed upper level. Designed by Victor Gruen Associates, Karl O. Van Leuven and Flannery & Associates, the 10 million dollar NORTHWAY MALL encompassed 394,000 leasable square feet. There were sixty-four store spaces and seven retail kiosks.
The complex was officially dedicated August 1, 1962, with Governor David L. Lawrence (D) cutting the ceremonial ribbon. NORTHWAY MALL, which featured the nation's third glass elevator, was anchored by a 2-level (170,000 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company. This operation, the fifth branch in the chain, stood on the south end of the mall and included a 20,000 square foot Budget Store.
Three tenants in the original strip center, F.W. Woolworth, Thrift Drugs and Evie's Beauty Salon, moved into larger quarters in the newly-constructed mall. The existing A & P was expanded and throroughly renovated. New stores in the NORTHWAY complex included National Record Mart, Parklane Hosiery, Hughes & Hatcher and a G.C. Murphy 5 & 10. The enclosed shopping concourse was landscaped with tropical foliage, which included tufted fishtail palms, India rubber trees, lady finger banana trees, fig vines and pygmy date palms.
NORTHWAY was the premier shopping center in Pittsburgh's "North Hills" area for several years. Its first commercial competition came when NORTH HILLS VILLAGE {.9 miles south} was rebuilt as an enclosed mall in 1976. In 1986, ROSS PARK MALL {.7 miles southwest} opened, which was a 1.2 million square foot, superregional center.
As its first competitive measure, NORTHWAY MALL was given a face lift in 1979, which included new wooden paneling and interior landscaping. The A & P supermarket space, vacated in the spring of 1979, was rebuilt as a Carteret, New Jersey-based Herman's World of Sporting Goods. This store opened for business October 31 of the same year.
Horne's downsized into a lower level Home Store in 1986. This was shuttered in mid-1987. By this time, the mall was in decline. A new owner, the Dallas-based Southwest Corporation, embarked on a major renovation of the structure, which was completed -and dedicated- October 9, 1987.
The South Court had been opened up to the floor below, which had originally contained the Horne's Budget Store. A 2-level Atrium was created. The G.C. Murphy space, vacated in December 1985, became the National Amusements Super Saver Cinemas 8. Its first features were shown on April 1, 1988. The movie house was renamed Northway Mall Cinemas 8 in November 2001.
Meanwhile, the upper level of the old Horne's opened, as a (77,000 square foot), Erie, Pennsylvania-based Dahlkemper's Catalog Showroom, on October 9, 1987. The lower level became a (73,000 square foot), Columbus, Ohio-based Value City, which was dedicated November 25, 1988. The shopping hub now encompassed ninety stores and services.
A 2-level space at the front of the mall, originally leased as a Red Coach Restaurant and cocktail lounge, was rebuilt into an office level mezzanine and 7-bay Food Court in 1990. The original eateries were China Fan, Rax Roast Beef, The Covered Wagon, Chicken & Fries, Greek Deli and Mama Lucia's Pizzaria (a 1974 tenant that had relocated from a store on the mall's McKnight Level).
F.W. Woolworth, which had operated at the mall site since 1953, shuttered their store in January 1991. The building would sit vacant for 5 years. Herman's World Of Sporting Goods and Dahlkemper's folded in 1993. In June of that year, a 13.5 million dollar renovation was announced. The empty Dahlkempers became a Dick's Sporting Goods in March 1994, with the vacant Herman's, on the Lower (McKnight) Level, being expanded into adjacent space. A Borders Books was dedicated April 21, 1995.
As these stores were established, the Upper Level mallway was being reconfigured. A new entry was cut through the existing Super Saver Cinemas and the vacant Woolworth was retenanted by a Mass-based Marshalls. This store welcomed its first shoppers in 1994. A mall corridor was also cut through previously existing store space adjacent to Marshalls. A new escalator linked this corridor with the Lower Level of the shopping hub. The renovated mall was officially re-dedicated May 4, 1995.
At the same time, the shopping complex was sold to Dallas-based MacNeil Real Estate. They flipped the property, with the Dallas-based Archon Group assuming ownership in May of the year 2000. Only 5 months later, the mall was sold again. The buyer, known as Northway Limited Partners, was a joint venture of Pittsburgh's John McKinney and John Zemet.
At the turn of the century, the mall was still in a downward spiral that renovations in the late 1980s and mid-1990s had failed to reverse. It was decided to go with the current trend in retail and perform a partial demalling. A new name, SHOPPES AT NORTHWAY, was bestowed in late 2005, with demolition work getting underway in early 2007.
The cinema, shuttered in January, was demolished, along with twelve adjacent stores on the Upper Level. In all, 58,000 square feet were demolished, with remaining stores opened to the adjacent (upper level) parking lot. New tenants were signed, such as Shoe Carnival, Home Styles & More and The Kid Company, a family play center. A (17,300 square foot) Aldi discount grocery opened, as a freestanding structure, November 8, 2007.
Unfortunately, The Great Recession set in just as the renovation of the shopping hub was being completed. Value City, Old Navy, The Kid Company and Dress Barn were out of business by late 2008. Borders Books bit the dust September 13, 2011.
A new power center in the vicinity exacerbated the decline of SHOPPES AT NORTHWAY. The first phase of McCANDLESS CROSSING {1.1 mile north, in Allegheny County} was dedicated in November 2010. The new shopping venue eventually snatched the primary anchor of SHOPPES AT NORTHWAY. Dick's Sporting Goods shut its doors April 8, 2014.
Meanwhile, in early 2012, Northway LP defaulted on their mall loan. The complex was bought out of bankruptcy in December 2012. Its new owner, Akron, Ohio's LRC Realty, acquired an adjacent property (formerly an elementary school) and were working on incorporating it into the plan for a renewed shopping hub, to be known as NORTHWAY COLLECTION.
In March 2015, an alternate name, THE BLOCK NORTHWAY, was announced. Rumor had it that Washington State's Costco was coming on board, but this didn't pan out. However, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth and The Container Store were eventually confirmed as future tenants of the prospective 467,800 square foot "upscale hybrid center."
Retail space on the north end of the mall was demolished. Newly-built stores included a 2-level (40,300 square foot) Nordstrom Rack, dedicated on August 26, 2016 and (24,300 square foot) Container Store, which began business October 13 of the same year. PetSmart also relocated into a (14,100 square foot) structure.
Other sections of the mall were gutted and substantially rebuilt. Saks Off Fifth set up shop in a 2-level (36,000 square foot) store, which opened October 3, 2016. Marshalls renovated their existing location. An (18,400 square foot) DSW was also installed in existing space. The old Horne's store was gutted and reconfigured. A 100-space parking deck was created on the lower level, along with spaces for Bassett Furniture, Kirkland's and Core Life Eatery. The upper level was sectioned into six spaces, with one being a (40,000 square foot) Dave & Buster's Grand Sports Cafe.
Completing the NORTHWAY refurbishment was an 11,600 square foot strip plaza, built in the upper level parking lot next to Aldi. This structure housed stores and services such as Cyclebar, Piada Italian Street Food and Jason's Deli. These were in business by October 2017.
Sources:
The Pittsburgh Post
In the early 1960s, Maryland's James W. Rouse Company purchased the strip center, renovated it, and added a fully-enclosed upper level. Designed by Victor Gruen Associates, Karl O. Van Leuven and Flannery & Associates, the 10 million dollar NORTHWAY MALL encompassed 394,000 leasable square feet. There were sixty-four store spaces and seven retail kiosks.
The complex was officially dedicated August 1, 1962, with Governor David L. Lawrence (D) cutting the ceremonial ribbon. NORTHWAY MALL, which featured the nation's third glass elevator, was anchored by a 2-level (170,000 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company. This operation, the fifth branch in the chain, stood on the south end of the mall and included a 20,000 square foot Budget Store.
Three tenants in the original strip center, F.W. Woolworth, Thrift Drugs and Evie's Beauty Salon, moved into larger quarters in the newly-constructed mall. The existing A & P was expanded and throroughly renovated. New stores in the NORTHWAY complex included National Record Mart, Parklane Hosiery, Hughes & Hatcher and a G.C. Murphy 5 & 10. The enclosed shopping concourse was landscaped with tropical foliage, which included tufted fishtail palms, India rubber trees, lady finger banana trees, fig vines and pygmy date palms.
NORTHWAY was the premier shopping center in Pittsburgh's "North Hills" area for several years. Its first commercial competition came when NORTH HILLS VILLAGE {.9 miles south} was rebuilt as an enclosed mall in 1976. In 1986, ROSS PARK MALL {.7 miles southwest} opened, which was a 1.2 million square foot, superregional center.
As its first competitive measure, NORTHWAY MALL was given a face lift in 1979, which included new wooden paneling and interior landscaping. The A & P supermarket space, vacated in the spring of 1979, was rebuilt as a Carteret, New Jersey-based Herman's World of Sporting Goods. This store opened for business October 31 of the same year.
Horne's downsized into a lower level Home Store in 1986. This was shuttered in mid-1987. By this time, the mall was in decline. A new owner, the Dallas-based Southwest Corporation, embarked on a major renovation of the structure, which was completed -and dedicated- October 9, 1987.
The South Court had been opened up to the floor below, which had originally contained the Horne's Budget Store. A 2-level Atrium was created. The G.C. Murphy space, vacated in December 1985, became the National Amusements Super Saver Cinemas 8. Its first features were shown on April 1, 1988. The movie house was renamed Northway Mall Cinemas 8 in November 2001.
Meanwhile, the upper level of the old Horne's opened, as a (77,000 square foot), Erie, Pennsylvania-based Dahlkemper's Catalog Showroom, on October 9, 1987. The lower level became a (73,000 square foot), Columbus, Ohio-based Value City, which was dedicated November 25, 1988. The shopping hub now encompassed ninety stores and services.
A 2-level space at the front of the mall, originally leased as a Red Coach Restaurant and cocktail lounge, was rebuilt into an office level mezzanine and 7-bay Food Court in 1990. The original eateries were China Fan, Rax Roast Beef, The Covered Wagon, Chicken & Fries, Greek Deli and Mama Lucia's Pizzaria (a 1974 tenant that had relocated from a store on the mall's McKnight Level).
F.W. Woolworth, which had operated at the mall site since 1953, shuttered their store in January 1991. The building would sit vacant for 5 years. Herman's World Of Sporting Goods and Dahlkemper's folded in 1993. In June of that year, a 13.5 million dollar renovation was announced. The empty Dahlkempers became a Dick's Sporting Goods in March 1994, with the vacant Herman's, on the Lower (McKnight) Level, being expanded into adjacent space. A Borders Books was dedicated April 21, 1995.
As these stores were established, the Upper Level mallway was being reconfigured. A new entry was cut through the existing Super Saver Cinemas and the vacant Woolworth was retenanted by a Mass-based Marshalls. This store welcomed its first shoppers in 1994. A mall corridor was also cut through previously existing store space adjacent to Marshalls. A new escalator linked this corridor with the Lower Level of the shopping hub. The renovated mall was officially re-dedicated May 4, 1995.
At the same time, the shopping complex was sold to Dallas-based MacNeil Real Estate. They flipped the property, with the Dallas-based Archon Group assuming ownership in May of the year 2000. Only 5 months later, the mall was sold again. The buyer, known as Northway Limited Partners, was a joint venture of Pittsburgh's John McKinney and John Zemet.
At the turn of the century, the mall was still in a downward spiral that renovations in the late 1980s and mid-1990s had failed to reverse. It was decided to go with the current trend in retail and perform a partial demalling. A new name, SHOPPES AT NORTHWAY, was bestowed in late 2005, with demolition work getting underway in early 2007.
The cinema, shuttered in January, was demolished, along with twelve adjacent stores on the Upper Level. In all, 58,000 square feet were demolished, with remaining stores opened to the adjacent (upper level) parking lot. New tenants were signed, such as Shoe Carnival, Home Styles & More and The Kid Company, a family play center. A (17,300 square foot) Aldi discount grocery opened, as a freestanding structure, November 8, 2007.
Unfortunately, The Great Recession set in just as the renovation of the shopping hub was being completed. Value City, Old Navy, The Kid Company and Dress Barn were out of business by late 2008. Borders Books bit the dust September 13, 2011.
A new power center in the vicinity exacerbated the decline of SHOPPES AT NORTHWAY. The first phase of McCANDLESS CROSSING {1.1 mile north, in Allegheny County} was dedicated in November 2010. The new shopping venue eventually snatched the primary anchor of SHOPPES AT NORTHWAY. Dick's Sporting Goods shut its doors April 8, 2014.
Meanwhile, in early 2012, Northway LP defaulted on their mall loan. The complex was bought out of bankruptcy in December 2012. Its new owner, Akron, Ohio's LRC Realty, acquired an adjacent property (formerly an elementary school) and were working on incorporating it into the plan for a renewed shopping hub, to be known as NORTHWAY COLLECTION.
In March 2015, an alternate name, THE BLOCK NORTHWAY, was announced. Rumor had it that Washington State's Costco was coming on board, but this didn't pan out. However, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off Fifth and The Container Store were eventually confirmed as future tenants of the prospective 467,800 square foot "upscale hybrid center."
Retail space on the north end of the mall was demolished. Newly-built stores included a 2-level (40,300 square foot) Nordstrom Rack, dedicated on August 26, 2016 and (24,300 square foot) Container Store, which began business October 13 of the same year. PetSmart also relocated into a (14,100 square foot) structure.
Other sections of the mall were gutted and substantially rebuilt. Saks Off Fifth set up shop in a 2-level (36,000 square foot) store, which opened October 3, 2016. Marshalls renovated their existing location. An (18,400 square foot) DSW was also installed in existing space. The old Horne's store was gutted and reconfigured. A 100-space parking deck was created on the lower level, along with spaces for Bassett Furniture, Kirkland's and Core Life Eatery. The upper level was sectioned into six spaces, with one being a (40,000 square foot) Dave & Buster's Grand Sports Cafe.
Completing the NORTHWAY refurbishment was an 11,600 square foot strip plaza, built in the upper level parking lot next to Aldi. This structure housed stores and services such as Cyclebar, Piada Italian Street Food and Jason's Deli. These were in business by October 2017.
Sources:
The Pittsburgh Post
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
http://www.mckinneyproperties.com
http://shoppesatnorthway.com
http://www.mckinneyproperties.com
http://shoppesatnorthway.com
http://cranberry.patch.com/articles/nearby-connection-the-key-to-redeveloping-northway-mall
http://theblocknorthway.com
http://www.upgruv.com
http://theblocknorthway.com
http://www.upgruv.com
"Northway Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Joseph Horne Company" article on Wikipedia
"Ross Park Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Dahlkemper's" article on Wikipedia
"Joseph Horne Company" article on Wikipedia
"Ross Park Mall" article on Wikipedia
"Dahlkemper's" article on Wikipedia
