‘Ceremonial demo’ kicks off work to revitalize old Washington Mall property

Minutes before hard-hatted dignitaries swung silver-plated sledgehammers onto concrete blocks to ceremonially commence the razing of Washington Mall, the skies opened up with heavy raindrops as though the retail gods were shedding a tear over the demise of the once-mighty shopping landmark.
The sprawling mall that opened in 1968 has been left to deteriorate over the last two decades as businesses moved out, leaving an eyesore for the tens of thousands of motorists who travel Interstate 70/79 daily through the heart of Washington County.
That prompted county leaders and private developers to hatch a plan nearly two years ago to revitalize the 36-acre property in South Strabane Township and coax the more than two dozen owners and entities that needed to sign off on a sale to turn over the mall to a developer that has big plans for the site.
“We talk about what was with this mall. Now we’re talking about what’s to be,” commission Chairman Nick Sherman said. “We’re celebrating the end of this mall.”
Behind Sherman and other dignitaries who spoke during Friday afternoon’s “ceremonial demo” to kick off the work was a large hole carved out recently by excavators revealing the level of deterioration inside the old mall that has been left to rot. A waterfall poured from the roof near the gaping hole as heavy rain fell onto the dozens of people who gathered for the event.
“People used to see this as an obstacle. Now they see it as an opportunity,” Sherman said of the mall.
That new opportunity is expected to be the development of a Costco wholesale retail club that will be the anchor tenant of the property, along with a Campers Inn RV center and other stores.
The development is being overseen by 79/70 Associates LLC, which is connected to Leetsdale-based Chapman Properties that was prominently featured on hard hats and corporate attire worn by several workers attending the event. Chapman President and Chief Operating Officer Tony Rosenberger said the vision to redevelop the site began in September 2023 and gained momentum with the formation of 79/70 Associates in early 2024 with the intention of purchasing the property.
That culminated last month when the 26 entities that held ownership stakes in the mall agreed to sell the property to 79/70 Associates for $12.75 million, according to property records at the Washington County Recorder of Deeds Office. Rosenberger signed the documents June 12 and the deed was officially recorded July 1.
While county officials have said on numerous occasions that Costco will be building a 152,000-square-foot store at the site, Rosenberger declined to refer to the company by name since there apparently is still a non-disclosure agreement in place.
“It starts with a C and ends with an O,” he said with a laugh.
An email sent last week to Costco’s public relations department inquiring about the store went unanswered, while a spokesman at the company’s corporate headquarters in Issaquah, Wash., declined comment Friday afternoon.
Regardless, the commissioners have allocated $5.9 million in county blight mitigation funds to raze the mall to make way for the development. Bob Griffin, who is executive director of the Redevelopment Authority of the County of Washington that is coordinating the project, said a cooperation agreement was signed Friday so the demolition contract with Neiswonger Construction can now be finalized and the work to raze the mall will begin soon.
“Rarely do we see this much fanfare for tearing something down,” Griffin said during the ceremony. “But it really speaks to the investment and about the development.”
Commissioner Larry Maggi marveled at how the mall cost $6 million to construct when it opened in 1968, which is nearly the same exact dollar figure as it will cost to demolish.
“We had all kinds of neat stores here,” Maggi said. “This is a beginning. It served Washington County well and I’m anxious to see what the future holds.”
“As they say, if you build it they will come,” Commissioner Electra Janis added. “When Costco comes here, everyone will want to (shop) here.”
After everyone was done speaking, Rosenberger handed Sherman a hard hat and sledgehammer before uttering an altered version of President Ronald Reagan’s immortal words to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Berlin Wall in 1987.
“Mr. Commissioner, tear down this mall,” Rosenberger said.
With that quip in the history books, the commissioners, Rosenberger and the other dignitaries swung their sledgehammers onto stacks of concrete blocks, breaking them down into rubble as they ushered in a new era for the old Washington Mall property.