Dramatic changes coming to the Neshaminy Mall. What we know

Say goodbye to the Neshaminy Mall. About half of it, anyway.

The old mall’s new owner is set to demolish half the retail dinosaur, maybe more, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal and BisNow.com , a commercial real estate publication.

The news broke when joint owners, Paramount Realty and Edgewood Properties, announced on July 15 that they had acquired the mall property for a reported $27.5 million. The Neshaminy Mall is on 91-acres with 1-million square feet of retail space.

New construction may be a mix of housing, retail and medical offices, according BisNow.com.

The new owners will keep several high-performing properties, including the mall’s popular AMC 24 -screen movie theaters, Boscov’s department store, Barnes & Noble books. Two standalone restaurants, Uno’s and On The Border, a Mexican eatery, will also stay, according to BisNow.

The shuttered Macy’s property, which is owned independently, is set to become a Fusion Gym , a chain of locally owned innovative fitness centers.

New life at Neshaminy Mall: Macy's at Neshaminy Mall to be redeveloped as gym, entertainment venue. Here's the plan

A phone message and an email seeking additional details on the dramatic changes was sent to Paramount, based in New Jersey, but was not immediately returned.

Last February, Brookfield Properties put the nearly empty mall up for sale "as is," a shock to people who remember Neshaminy in its heyday among the most powerful retail centers in Lower Bucks County and Northeast Philadelphia. The enormous mall at the crossroads of Lincoln Highway/Route 1 and the Pennsylvania Turnpike had once been among Bucks County’s biggest retail attractions.

Last February, the real estate listing said: “This offering presents prospective purchasers with the opportunity to acquire a strategically positioned super regional shopping center with significant upside potential.”

Old mall, new buyer Neshaminy Mall finds a new owner. What now for Bensalem property?

The news comes as enclosed shopping malls in Bucks County and elsewhere have fallen out of fashion with the public. Online shopping and home delivery has made it easy to avoid the mall.

Strip shopping centers, where shoppers can park close to the place in which they shop or browse are preferred. According to one retail expert interviewed by this news organization, strip centers are considered more convenient to the old-style indoor, climate-controlled mammoths,  requiring patrons to walk through vast parking lots just to get to a mall entrance, before trekking through the place to the store where they will shop.

JD Mullane can be reached at 215-949-5745 or at jmullane@courieritimes.com.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Dramatic changes coming to the Neshaminy Mall. What we know