The Phillipsburg Mall is almost silent late on this Friday morning. It’s not a time when one would typically expect crowds, but there isn’t even any music playing except the mild beats audible from the gym.
“Yo, this place is a (expletive) ghost town,” one young man tells another, probably louder than he intended.
He’s right. Empty storefronts here outnumber the occupied ones nearly 2-to-1. One anchor is being demolished, and the rumor is another vacant one could soon be torn down, too.
It’s only a rumor, but there isn’t much real information to go on. That’s frustrating people who make their living in this 577,000-square-foot shopping center. Most declined to give their names for fear of reprisal.
“They don’t tell us anything,” a person who works at one of the stores said of the ownership.
“It’s awful,” said someone at another shop, noting the silence. “There’s no music. It’s so quiet.”
Empty stores outnumber occupied ones in the Phillipsburg Mall nearly 2-to-1.Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com
The 30-year-old mall is on Route 22, split between Lopatcong Township and Pohatcong Township and less than a mile from Interstate 78.
It has been beset by vacancies. The mall lost Sears, one of its original anchors, early last year and Bon-Ton not long after. Friendly’s was out by year’s end. H&M closed this year. So did the Hallmark store. And Victoria’s Secret. The list goes on.
The Sears section is being demolished after the roof caved in a year ago.
The Long Island partnership of Namdar Realty Group and Mason Asset Management bought the Phillipsburg Mall property in 2013 for $11.5 million, adding to their national portfolio. Their stated intention was to upgrade the mall, which by that point had already been struggling with empty stores for years.
Namdar on Friday deferred comment on its near- and long-term plans to Mason, where a spokesman did not return requests for comment.
The last time that Mason President Eliott Nassim took a call from lehighvalleylive.com was in February 2018, when he said they were interested in selling or leasing the mall to developers. Last March, he told The Morning Call that was still the case – that a mall was not the best use of the property. Promotional materials say the shopping center is “currently being de-malled.”
But what would be better? The silence from ownership appears to extend beyond tenants to the local governments, too.
A major vacancy at the Phillipsburg Mall is inadvertently advertised on one of its entryways.Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com
“I've heard absolutely nothing,” Lopatcong Mayor James Mengucci said. “It's been very quiet."
Same in Pohatcong, where Mayor David Slack said his township has been working on its own redevelopment plan for the site but has gotten no feedback from Namdar and Mason.
"We're willing to entertain a different use, the same use, whatever would make the best use of the property" and maintain tax income to the township, Slack said. At the same time, Pohatcong is preparing to go to court over a tax appeal on the Phillipsburg Mall land.
The entrance to the former Sears inside the Phillipsburg Mall is blocked off as the one-time anchor is demolished.Steve Novak | For lehighvalleylive.com
But there is still hope within the mall. Events like last weekend’s wrestling exhibition show it can still draw good crowds, according to people who work there. One shop said they chose not to move out because they pay decent rent and have an established clientele.
Another storefront, Spin Me Round record store, is also doing well inside the mall, according to employee Ken Cox.
“I think there’s potential for this mall to come back,” he said. “If done right, I think it could. I don’t know how … maybe they need to change the whole concept of the mall.”
Steve Novak may be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @SteveNovakLVL and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.