Property owners for the Pittsburgh Mills mall in Frazer were ordered to pay more than $17 million in response to poor road, sidewalk and door conditions at the mall complex, an Allegheny County judge ruled Tuesday.
In sum, Judge Thomas Flaherty handed down $17,634,080 worth of fines against the four property owners of the Pittsburgh Mills, which are Pitt Galleria Realty LLC, Pitt Realty LLC, Pitt Galleria CH LLC and Galleria Nassim LLC — commonly known as Namdar.
The property owners had appealed $11.2 million in fines handed down in August by District Judge Michael Girardi.
At that time, the owners were found guilty of 364 code violations for lack of attention to mall maintenance, including cratered roads, overgrown weeds and building violations cited by Frazer Code Enforcement Officer Bill Payne.
Barring successful appeals, the latest ruling means the mall’s owners now face almost $29 million in fines over the condition of the property.
That’s in addition to criminal charges filed earlier this year by the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office for creating a public nuisance, a charge linked to the road conditions at the complex.
Flaherty said Tuesday that, throughout each juncture and appeal, it hasn’t appeared that Namdar has made any corrective proposal or plan to fix the issues.
No one from Namdar was present at Tuesday’s hearing. The judge said the property owner “has been too remote” throughout the ordeal.
“Essentially, time has run out,” Flaherty said. “The court finds there’s been a total lack of response to these very serious issues.”
James Berent, an attorney representing the property owners, declined to comment.
Alexandra Farone, representing Frazer, said the township withdrew a few citations given that a paving project is underway on Village Center and Galleria drives this week. The township also abated a few citations relating to high grass and weeds because they have also been fixed, she said.
Payne and Frazer police Chief Aaron Scott testified that the road conditions are harmful to public safety, noting some potholes are 10 inches deep and that drivers swerve into other lanes to avoid hitting them.
Sidewalks abutting the mall building have fallen into disrepair and caused tripping hazards, Payne testified, and doors have rusted, causing them to need to be fixed or replaced.
“This has been years of disrepair; the property owner has owned the property for eight years,” Farone said. “We have an, effectively, absentee landlord.”
