The three malls in the Harrisburg area—the Capital City Mall, the Colonial Park Mall, and the Harrisburg Mall—have rather distinct histories as 2025 gets underway.
The Harrisburg Mall in Swatara Township is set to be converted into a mixed-use business community called the Swatara Exchange by its owners.
Due to ongoing tenant evictions, Lower Paxton Township’s Colonial Park Mall was sold this year.
Additionally, Lower Allen Township’s Capital City Mall celebrated 50 years of operation. There was only one vacancy at the end of the year.
We examine what transpired in 2024 below:
The Macy’s store at the Harrisburg Mall in Swatara Township is being demolished.
February 29, 2024.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
Harrisburg Mall
Swatara Township, 3501 Paxton St.
January 2024: The majority of the tenants who had stayed at the Harrisburg Mall had until January 31 to vacate the building as 2024 got underway.
Retailers and other establishments, some of which had been in the mall for decades, began to vacate one by one in January. These establishments included:
At the Harrisburg Mall, the Kondu restaurant.
December 8, 2021.
[email protected] Dan Gleiter
February – In February, a few tenants vacated the mall, including:
The Harrisburg Mall was being demolished by the end of the month. The first place to close was Macy’s.
March: Properties of St. John In addition to submitting a land development plan to the municipality, the mall’s owner suggested dividing the Harrisburg Mall site into seven separate lots. The bigger land was previously divided from the old Toys R Us structure.
The mall’s indoor area was shut down by March. At a few of the mall’s entrances, signs are displayed on the doors that read This door is closed all the time. With their own external entrances, Bass Pro Shops, 2nd & Charles, DXL, and H&R Block are still open.
The Harrisburg Mall location of H&R Block is no longer open.| [email protected] Daniel Urie
May: H&R Blockhad departed the shopping center by May.
June: Men’s clothing store DXL Big + Tall is located in the mall.
What next?
The old Toys R Us store in Swatara Township, located near to the Harrisburg Mall at 3405 Paxton St.
March 1, 2024.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
“As we complete the temporary relocation of 2nd & Charles to the former Toys R Us building, demolition has proceeded throughout the mall’s interior,” St. John Properties told PennLive in a statement in November.
Bass Pro Shops opens at the Harrisburg Mall in Swatara Township at 5 a.m., and Black Friday consumers wait in line.
November 24, 2023.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
Applebee’s Grill + Bar, Bass Pro Shops, and 2nd & Charles are the only three businesses remaining in the Harrisburg Mall site.
Following demolition, St. John Properties intends to construct the Swatara Exchange, which will have about 200,000 square feet of single-story multi-use space and 13,600 square feet of single-story commercial space. Potential tenants, including restaurants, financial institutions, healthcare providers, convenience stores, and others, will be approached about 50,000 square feet of retail space and two retail pad locations.
Where are the former Harrisburg Mall tenants now?
The Lane Bryant store located at 4634 High Pointe Blvd. in Swatara Township’s High Pointe Commons retail mall is now closed.| [email protected] Daniel Urie
Aerial photograph of Lower Paxton Township’s Colonial Park Mall on Jonestown Road. March 6, 2023. | [email protected] | Jimmie Brown
Colonial Park Mall
Lower Paxton Township, 4600 Jonetown Road
March 2024: On March 4, Colonial Park Cinemas 4 closed for good.The mall was closed for a day due to a water main break on the property.
May-Rue21 declared that all of its locations, including the Colonial Park Mall location, will be closing. The store had spent ten years at the mall. There were roughly 33 tenants and 43 open spots at the mall as of May.
June: The Colonial Park Mall’s scheduled auction on Ten-X, a website for commercial real estate, was postponed.
July: The Colonial Park Mall was scheduled to be put up for auction once more in July, with a starting offer of $2.1 million. However, a Ten-X employee informed PennLive on July 15, the day of the auction, that the listing had been withdrawn.
September: On September 22, the Colonial Park Mall closed, and on September 28, it reopened. The mall attributed the shutdown to the weather. According to Dauphin County property records, Kohan Retail Investment Group sold the mall to 4600 Jonestown Road LLC, a Pennsylvania liability business, on September 26 for $8.8 million.Zi Qian Zhang of Fall River, Massachusetts, is listed as the company’s owner. The main building of the mall (but not Boscov’s), the former Sears building, and five other buildings on the land that were not owned by Kohan Retail were all included in the deal. According to PennLive, Zhang’s lawyer has informed the township that his client wishes to submit plans to establish a Fun City Adventure Park in part of the mall’s former Bon-Ton shop. At the time of the sale, the mall had roughly thirty residents. At one point the mall owed$560,200.26 in unpaid taxesin 2023 to the county but following the sale, thecounty s websitesaid those bills had all been caught up.
Fyre Lounge & Bar opened at the Colonial Park Mall in Lower Paxton Township.Sue Gleiter
November- Fyre Lounge & Bar closed on Nov 2 after one year in business.
December- As 2024 came to an end, the mall was closed from Dec. 28-30 due to a water main break.
What s left at the mall in 2024?
In addition to Colonial Park Cinemas 4, Rue21 and Fyre Lounge & Bar, other businesses that left the mall included Spencer s, Hair Genetics, Claire s, Mystery Box Depot, Regis and China Max. Mall Tailor & Cleaners relocated to Colonial Park from the Harrisburg Mall.
As of Dec. 26, the mall s occupants include: Battle 5 Extraction, Mall Tailor & Cleaners, Kay Jewelers, Colonial Dollar, Seattle s Best, The Modest Muslim, Modern Jewelers, Kalajula Braiding, Chinese Traditional Massage, Zoomania, Shoe Carnival, Tap n Arts Dance Studio, T-Mobile, Designer Suits, Kayla s Nails, Mr. Fix, Bs & Ds Consulting, Boscov s, Simple Gold Exchange, Magic Nails, Osaka, Red Lobster, Best Indian and Nepali Grocery, Mountz jewelers, Longhorn Steakhouse and Colonial Park Barbers.
The mall has about 26 occupants and about 52 vacancies.
Capital City Mall in Lower Allen Township is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
October 10, 2024.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
Capital City Mall
3506 Capital City Mall Drive in Lower Allen Township
April 2024 -PREIT, the parent company of the Capital City Mall exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy for a second time since 2020. The company said that through the reorganization plan, it reduced its total debt by approximately $835 million. The company added that as a result of its corporate reorganization and consolidation of equity holders, it is no longer an SEC reporting company. PREIT exited bankruptcy as a private company and was no longer a co-owner of the Fashion District Philadelphia. The Capital City Mall remained open throughout the bankruptcy process.
The Miniso store at the Capital City Mall in Lower Allen Township.
October 10, 2024.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
July- Miniso, which specializes in household and consumer goods including cosmetics, stationery, toys, and kitchenware, opened at the Capital City Mall.
The HBG Jewelers kisok at the Capital City Mall in Lower Allen Township.
October 10, 2024.
[email protected] Dan [email protected] Dan Gleiter
August- HBG Jewelers opened a kiosk at the mall. It relocated from the Harrisburg Mall.
Asoul Ramen at Capital City Mall in Lower Allen Township.
October 10, 2024.
Dan Gleiter | [email protected] Gleiter | [email protected]
October- On Oct. 11, the Capital City Mall held a celebration marking its 50th year. Unofficially, as of Oct. 11, mall tenants break down this way: shoes and apparel, 39%; food, 21%; services, 6%; jewelry and accessories, 12%; home, 3%; electronics, 6%; entertainment, 4% and other tenants, 9%. Three years ago, PennLive did a similar breakdown where shoes and apparel made up 29% and food made up 17%. Those two categories have since increased. About 1,100 people work in the mall, and about 45% are full-time.Asoul Ramen openedon Oct. 21. The menu is heavy on authentic Japanese ramen, rice bowls, sushi and homemade ice cream.
The food court at the Capital City Mall in Lower Allen Township.
October 10, 2024.
Dan Gleiter | [email protected] Gleiter | [email protected]
A nearly full mall
On a recent Friday afternoon, the parking lot at the Capital City Mall was full, the food court was bustling and the shopping center was crowded with customers. The mall has about 90 occupants (not including temporary kiosks) and one vacancy as of Dec. 27.
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