J.C. Penney Stores In York, Chambersburg Among 39 Closing

The JCPenney at York Galleria will close for business around April 4.

Sarah Holland, JCPenney spokeswoman, said via email that the York Galleria store is one of 39 locations nationwide that will close. Throughout Pennsylvania, JCPenney is also closing stores at the Chambersburg Mall in Chambersburg, Susquehanna Valley Mall in Hummels Wharf, Granite Run Mall in Media and Nittany Mall in State College.

Holland said the closures are part of ongoing efforts to meet goals for company growth.

“We continually evaluate our store portfolio to determine whether there’s a need to close or relocate underperforming stores,” Holland said. “While it’s never an easy decision to close stores, especially due to the impact on our valued associates and customers, we feel this is a necessary business decision.”

Read more: http://www.ydr.com/business/ci_27281077/jc-penney-stores-york-chambersburg-close-according-report

Zoning Change Approved, Finally, For Franklin Mint Site

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Delaware County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP, PA –  A decade after the Franklin Mint closed, its round museum building still sits vacant along busy Baltimore Pike in Delaware County.

Development of the prominent property has been plagued by opposition from residents, a slow economy, and – most recently – a legal battle among the developers.

But the plan took a step forward this week when a revised zoning ordinance won approval from the Middletown Township Council. The site, with more than 170 acres, could now have 350 townhouses, offices, retail space, and a hotel.

Its completion could take years. By that time, the site could become just one piece in a transformation of the heavily traveled Route 1 through Middletown.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20140301_Zoning_change_approved__finally__for_Franklin_Mint_site.html#61TJpi4ej4yS7q3Z.99

Granite Run Mall Management Addresses Middletown Council

Marquette Management, the new operators of Granite Run Mall, paid a visit to a Middletown Council meeting to share their plans for turning the mall around.  This news was met with much enthusiasm from council members and residents.  Middletown Township and the Rose Tree Media School District rely on the mall for a good portion of their tax base.

Marquette Management stressed Granite Run Mall is here to stay.  The company is committed to filling empty stores, making the mall more attractive, more secure and returning Granite Run Mall to its prominent place in the community.  When the forty empty stores are filled, it will add four hundred new jobs.  Marquette has eighty prospective tenants they are vetting to fill the empty space.

Marquette representatives will return to council in two months to update them on their progress.  We give Marquette Management two Roy’s Rants thumbs up for riding to the rescue and having a solid plan of action.

Granite Run Mall Gets New Lease On Life

The troubled Granite Run Mall in Delaware County will now be managed by Madison Marquette.  Madison Marquette will hit the ground running with planned improvements to the interior and exterior of the mall, in addition to aggressively trying to lease empty retail space (29 stores).

Madison Marquette is a Washington, DC-based developer and operator of retail and retail mixed-use real estate throughout the United States.  Madison Marquette maintains a regional office in Philadelphia at 1717 Arch Street.  Madison Marquette manages more than 20 million square feet of property.  They have a history of transforming failed retail projects.  For more information:  http://www.madisonmarquette.com/about_us/history

Simon Property Group has removed Granite Run from their list of properties on their website.

Could Granite Run Mall Be The Next Entry On DeadMalls.com?

Image via Wikipedia

Granite Run Mall, just outside of Media, Delaware County is slowly dying.  Empty stores and few shoppers is not a good sign of things to come.  Simon Property Group Inc. and Macerich Co. are the owners of Granite Run Mall.

Granite Run Mall may be up for a short sale or a take over by its lender because of a very late $115 million mortgage payment.  Simon appears to have lost interest in dumping more money into the mall.  Malls across America are struggling as consumers have turned to strip malls, outlet malls and big box retail complexes.  If Granite Run fails, it will be the largest mall to be sold or forfeited to a lender since the current recession started. 

Granite Run is a two-level, super-regional mall with 1,033,000 square feet of retail space.  The three anchor stores are JC Penney, Sears and Boscov’s.  Kohl’s is located outside the mall, along the perimeter, to make a fourth large department store at the mall complex.  The mall opened in 1974 and was remodeled in 1984 and 1994.