Nov 19, 2025 By Garrett Neese 4 min read

South Union Township officials are suing the Uniontown Mall owners over alleged safety violations and “dangerous and unlawful” conditions.

The complaint filed last week against Namdar Realty Group and Uniontown Mall Realty describes a number of hazards in and around the mall.

Township Supervisor Robert Schiffbauer said issues began popping up soon after Namdar purchased the mall in 2015 and are “getting worse and worse.”

Outside, the suit alleged, the driveways and parking areas are deteriorating, and multiple potholes are creating the risk of more extensive damage to infrastructure.

Inside the mall, which is 689,585 square feet, inspectors found multiple exit doors that were locked, obstructed or so damaged they needed excessive force to open.

“These conditions constitute ongoing threats to public safety, including risks of injury and/or death, impeded emergency evacuation, and compromised fire exit access,” the complaint contended.

The earliest communication included in the complaint is a July 17 letter from Brian Lake, president of K2 Engineering, asking the owners to repair multiple potholes near stormwater inlets, which Lake said could risk further deterioration to the roadway and nearby infrastructure if not addressed.

“The only thing they’ve done with them is throw pallets over the top of them and put cones on,” said Bob Mankovich, who handles the township’s code enforcement. “That’s not safe.”

An Aug. 14 inspection inside the mall found most exterior emergency doors were sticking or damaged, and multiple illuminated exit signs that wouldn’t light up, according to a letter from K2 included in the filing. Extension cords were visible on the ceiling, an employee entrance door was damaged, and cracking in the door frame allowed daylight to break through, the inspection found.

A third letter, which Mankovich sent on Sept. 23, noted rodents and feces in a storage area near JCPenney.

“One … of the tenants that was in there actually didn’t pay his lease, so they locked him out and left all his stock in there,” which included food, Mankovich said. “So the mice are just having a field day up there.”

Since August, more than 100 citations have been filed against Namdar.

The mall owners have acknowledged them, but so far have not given any additional feedback or indication that they are working on the problem, Schiffbauer said.

“At some point, the township came to the conclusion that really, there’s nothing else that we could do, but try to require the owners to … make the repairs that were necessary to protect the health and safety and welfare of people going into the mall, using the parking lot,” said Jim Davis, solicitor for South Union Township.

A representative who answered the phone at Namdar Realty Group provided an email address for the company’s legal department to contact for comment. No response had been received as of presstime.

Namdar purchased the mall itself for $23 million from the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT), and separately purchased the property upon which the mall sits.

At the time of its sale about 93% of the mall’s space was leased, and its anchors included Burlington Coat Factory, Bon-Ton, JCPenney, Sears and Teletech Customer Care.

Of those, only JCPenney remains, along with a handful of other retailers. Some of the other mall space is occupied by agencies or businesses.

The complaint asks the mall to repair and restore paved areas to safe condition, remove obstructions to clear pathways inside the mall, repair damaged and non-functioning emergency exits and doors, and immediately unlock any locked emergency exits except where they are legally allowed.

Davis said the township’s hope is that the suit will push the owners into action.

“Certainly we do not want to be in a position where we have someone injured or we have a problem with an accident, and God forbid some terrible thing could happen,” he said.

If there’s no additional response from the owners, the township will pursue additional legal action, Schiffbauer said. He’s hopeful the basic acknowledgment from the owners will turn into action.

“We’ve been very cooperative, very patient. That mall has been a very big part of the township, and it is kind of sad to see it be in the state it is now,” he said. “But hopefully the owner addresses some problems and maybe it’s a brighter future for the mall.”