SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE
Washington Road / US 19 and Fort Couch RoadBethel Park and Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania
NORTHWAY MALL was the first partially-enclosed shopping complex in -or around- Pennsylvania's "Iron City." The complex, dedicated in 1962, was a rebuild of a circa-1953 strip center. Pittsburgh's first fully-enclosed shopping center was developed on an 85-acre tract, located 7.5 miles south of the Golden Triangle.
SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE straddled the corporate limits of suburban Bethel Park and Upper St. Clair. It was designed by Los Angeles-based Welton Becket & Associates and Victor Gruen Associates, with additional input from Pittsburgh-based Hoffman, Loeffler & Wolfe.
The 2-level facility was built by Pittsburgh-based Don-Mark Realty, later known as Oxford Development. Its official grand opening was held on July 28, 1965. Encompassing approximately 1,137,000 leasable square feet, SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE was anchored by a 2-level (169,300 square foot) Gimbels-Pittsburgh, 2-level (193,000 square foot), Pittsburgh-based Joseph Horne Company and 2-level (146,000 square foot) Sears.
Charter tenants included Lerner Shops, Pup-A-Go-Go, Sun Drugs and an F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10. A & P and Giant Eagle supermarkets were located in a western Convenience Center annex. In all, there were eighty-two stores and services. The RKO-Stanley-Warner South Hills Village Theatre was built as an eastern outparcel of the mall and was dedicated July 19, 1966. Originally a single-screen house, it was eventually divided into five auditoria.
Rivals of SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE included CENTURY III MALL (1979) {5.6 miles east, in West Mifflin} and the upscale GALLERIA OF MOUNT LEBANON (1964 / 1988) {.8 mile north, in Mount Lebanon}. There was also PARKWAY CENTER MALL (1982) {5.4 miles north, in Pittsburgh proper}, but this was a smaller, community-class complex. Mention of VILLAGE SQUARE (1982) {.3 mile northeast, in Bethel Park} might also be in order. This bi-level, fully-enclosed complex -originally a mini-outlet shopping center- was demalled in 1997.
SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE became rail-transit-accessible with the completion of the 10.5 route mile, Stage 1 "T" light rail line. Service was inaugurated in July 1985. The mall's southeast parking lot adjoins the South Hills Village station, which is the southern terminus of the Blue Line-South Hills Village route.
Gimbels became the first SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE anchor to change nameplates. The store was shuttered in 1986. It was renovated and expanded (to 254,000 square feet) with a third level. It re-opened, as a Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's, on August 13, 1987. The mall now encompassed 1,087,400 leasable square feet.
After the Kaufmann's chain was absorbed by Federated Stores in 2005, the SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE location was sold to Reading, Pennsylvania-based Boscov's. They opened August 26, 2006 and closed in October 2008. The Joseph Horne Company ceased operations after its 1994 Federated Stores buyout. The SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE store was expanded with a third level (to 277,700 square feet). It re-opened, under the Columbus, Ohio-based Lazarus nameplate, on October 20, 1995. It was rebranded as Lazarus-Macy's on August 1, 2003 and was fully "Macy-ated" February 6, 2005.
SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE had been renovated during the 1990s. The first phase of a 15 million dollar face lift was completed in July 1993. Entrances were rebuilt and the mall refurbished with new ceilings, skylights, landscaping and marble flooring. Moreover, a new escalator and glass elevator were installed in Center Court.
The second phase of the renovation, completed in late 1994, added a 14-bay Food Court, which was built in front of the Upper Level Main Entrance. This added approximately 21,600 square feet to the shopping center's gross leasable area.
By this time, SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE had become one of the most upscale shopping centers in the metro area. It was acquired by the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group in 1997. The 5-plex cinema closed in August 1997. It was razed and replaced by the Carmike South Hills Village 10. Its first features were shown on July 10, 1998.
A subsequent addition to SOUTH HILLS VILLAGE brought a (28,000 square foot) Barnes & Noble, which was built as a freestanding store in the northeast parking area. It opened in April 2005. With this addition, the mall encompassed 1,137,000 leasable square feet, with 130 stores and services.
In November 2009, it was announced that the vacant Gimbels / Kaufmann's / Boscov's was to be renovated and retenanted. According to plans, a (145,000 square foot) Target would be created in an expanded lower level. An (88,400 square foot) Dick's Sporting Goods would occupy the building's 2 upper levels. This new Dick's would replace a (31,500 square foot) store in the mall's freestanding Convenience Center.
The Simon Property Group purchased the vacant Boscov's structure in September 2010. Reconstruction work was delayed but finally got underway in May 2012. The grand opening of the vertically-stacked stores took place March 10, 2013. The mall now housed approximately 1,196,000 leasable square feet.
In April 2014, an interior-exterior face lift got underway. The Food Court was remodeled, with its seating area expanded. New mall entrances and escalators were installed and several tenants either renovated their spaces or moved to new locations within the complex. The project was completed in November 2014.
Sears, which anchored SHV for over 53 years, went dark on September 2, 2018. The abandoned building was demolished and replaced by a Davenport, Iowa-based Von Maur department store. This mercantile welcomed first customers in the fall of 2024.
Sources:
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Sources:
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Press
http://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.portauthority.org
http://www.simon.com / Simon Property Group
http://www.cinematreasures.org
http://www.portauthority.org
https://www.prnewswire.com
"South Hills Village" article on Wikipedia
