Pensdale, Pennsdale, Pennsylvania. – The Anchor Store in the district of Lycoming Valley, former Lycoming Mall in Mansey Township, will quickly close the doors.
This week we saw a store closure sign at Burlington, the last remaining retailer at the previous mall. Lycoming Mall has been closed since February 2023.
The clerk on Tuesday was unable to confirm the store’s last day and referred the reporter to the company’s office for information. As of Thursday, northcentralpa.com had not received a return call from the corporate office.
In June 2023, the 135-acre former mall property was purchased by state university developer Famvest Partners and announced plans to turn the mall into a mixed-use center for residential use. Famvest received state and county-level funds for $15 million to help buy the mall and renamed it to the complex district of Lycoming Valley.
So far, apart from the reopening of cinemas last year, there have been few visible ways of moving around the original mall.
Mansey Township secretary Gwen Pidocoe said he had not heard anything recent about the redevelopment. “I haven’t come across anything at my desk.”
A reporter at Northcentralpa.com contacted a Famvest spokesperson for an update, but did not respond immediately.
The final public update came when Famvest issued a statement in September indicating that it was in consultation with a large retailer.“Famvest continues to discuss with potential tenants, and attracting appropriate commercial and large retail tenants for their property remains the main focus of development,” the statement read. “Redevelopment of this scale requires important thinking, planning and design, and is influenced by the type of tenants that come to the property.”
There’s nothing yet to be found on which retailers Famvest is talking to. The developer has previously said they will not disclose the names of potential tenants until the lease is signed.
The closure of Burlington marks the end of the era of anchor spaces, which have always had stores since the mall opened in 1978. Initially, the Gee Bee Department Store was in the space. In the 1990s, Value City took over the space, but by 2008 it was closed and opened the way for Burlington to enter. Burlington remained open even after the mall closed due to the exterior entrance door.
One of the previous Outparcel lots at the mall has been vacant recently as Big Lots spent its last day on Thursday, March 13th.
