Months after buyer canceled deal to buy Colonial Park Mall, shopping center remains open

More than a year has passed since a Maryland developer signed an agreement to purchase the Colonial Park Mall in Lower Paxton Township and confirmed plans to create a mixed-use community that would include retail, restaurants, apartments, for-sale condo units, a medical office building and a hotel.

But in July, Stonewall Capital terminated its sales agreement to buy the mall. Ray Jackson, the principal of Stonewall Capital, told PennLive at the time that the deal could still go through later.

Ten months have passed since the sale was canceled. The mall remains half empty and under the ownership of Kohan Retail Investment Group, which purchased it in 2017.

Earlier this month, Jackson said he didn’t have any updates to provide on the mall. PennLive also reached out to the Kohan Retail Investment Group, but company officials couldn’t immediately be reached. Kohan has a partnership with 4th Dimension Properties, which jointly manages the property. Felix Reznick, who owns 4th Dimension Properties, couldn’t be reached for comment either.

The shopping center on Jonestown Road remains open. Few people were shopping there on Tuesday afternoon.

The mall has about 33 occupants, down from about 39 last February, and more than 43 vacancies.

The mall has one department store left — Boscov’s. Jim Boscov’s, CEO of Boscov’s, said last year that the retailer has no plans to leave the mall.

“We’re going to be here for the next 100 years,” he said at the time. Boscov’s owns the store.

The mall was once home to clothing stores such as PacSun, American Eagle Outfitters, Aeropostale, Express, Wet Seal, Gap, Hot Topic and The Limited, among others. Just one fashion-forward retail chain remains there now — Rue21. But not for long. Rue21 is closing all of its stores. A sign at the store indicates only eight days remain before it is gone.

Another longtime store at the mall — Spencer’s — recently relocated to the Colonial Commons shopping center.

A comic book store, Dimension X Comics, Toys, and Collectibles, also officially left the mall last year before eventually relocating to Highspire.

The food court is half full with two restaurants.

The mall’s movie theater – Colonial Park Cinemas 4 – closed in March.

In the past year, Fyre Lounge & Bar opened in the former Buffalo Wild Wings space, and two tenants have relocated from the Harrisburg Mall – Mall Tailor & Cleaners and the Koup’s Cycle Shop motorcycle display.

Last July, the mall avoided a sheriff’s sale just 25 minutes before a deadline by paying a $319,539.06 bill to the Lower Paxton Township Authority for unpaid sewer and stormwater bills.

While demolition continues at the other Dauphin County mall — the Harrisburg Mall in Swatara Township — to make way for redevelopment, the future of the Colonial Park Mall remains unclear.