Malls · Pennsylvania

Fairgrounds Square Mall

Imported, unreviewedRedevelopedClosedMuhlenberg, PA

Opened 1980. Closed 2018. Redeveloped.

Status nowClosedextracted, unreviewed

documented

On April 30, 2018, Hull Property Group closed the interior of the mall.

en.wikipedia.org

What it becamehousing, hotel, retail, parkextracted, unreviewed reported

Last sale$13.6M · 2013public reporting

Retrofit yearNot yet retrofittedstatus reported

Walkability9.3 of 20 · 15-minute 5 of 6EPA, OpenStreetMap

Rail within 800 mNoOpenStreetMap, HUD

Ask who owns this Download dossier (PDF) · early access Download record (JSON) API Share LinkedIn Correct this record

Solid = from the authors' map · outlined = public source · dashed = model-written, not yet reviewed by a person. Tap any value's source label to see where it came from. documented = a quoted excerpt (click to read it) · reported = a source named, no excerpt yet · no source.

Fairgrounds Square Mall. Photo: Dough4872, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Site profile15 elements · what this retrofit is built with · tap a chip for the evidence

Former anchors

Boscov's

This site: Boscov's wikipedia · all sites with this

Finance and pipeline

Attention fading (Wikipedia views −40% y/y)

This site: 3,022 views, -40% wikimedia · all sites with this

Website dead or redirecting

This site: …http://www.shopatfairgrounds.com overture / http check · all sites with this

Place

15-minute neighbourhood (5+ of 6 daily needs within 800 m)

This site: 5/6 openstreetmap · all sites with this

County lost 10%+ of retail establishments since 2012

This site: -13% census-cbp · all sites with this

Grocery within 800 m

This site: 5 stores openstreetmap · all sites with this

High social vulnerability tract (SVI ≥ 0.75)

This site: 0.77 cdc-svi · all sites with this

Tract house prices doubled in 10 years

This site: +123% fhfa · all sites with this

Tract income up 60%+ since 2013

This site: +60% census-acs · all sites with this

Policy tool

Tax abatement or incentive

This site: …tax incentive from Muhlenberg Township Other developments planned include extraction · all sites with this

Strategy

Redeveloped

This site: Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, AMC Classic, Super Shoes, Planet Fitness, Baja Beach Tanning Club, and Quest Diagnostics remained open after the mall closed. extraction · all sites with this

New use

Hotel

This site: …ll closed. Other developments planned included townhomes, a hotel, and a restaurant. extraction · all sites with this

Housing

This site: after the mall closed. Other developments planned included townhomes, a hotel, and a restaurant. extraction · all sites with this

Park and open space

This site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this

Retail (continued)

This site: …new_use field extraction · all sites with this

All elements and lists · Trends

Now

Status	Closedextracted, unreviewed documented On April 30, 2018, Hull Property Group closed the interior of the mall. en.wikipedia.org
Strategy	Redevelopedextracted, unreviewed documented Hull Property Group had plans to redevelop the Fairgrounds Square Mall site. The redevelopment plan would demolish 68.1 percent of the mall, leaving Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, AMC Classic, Super Shoes, and Planet Fitness. en.wikipedia.org
New uses	housing, hotel, retail, parkextracted, unreviewed reported
What is there now	Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, AMC Classic, Super Shoes, Planet Fitness, Baja Beach Tanning Club, and Quest Diagnostics remained open after the mall closed.extracted, unreviewed documented Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, AMC Classic, Super Shoes, Planet Fitness, Baja Beach Tanning Club, and Quest Diagnostics remained open after the mall closed. en.wikipedia.org
Redeveloper	Hull Property Groupextracted, unreviewed reported

Planning

Public purchase or subsidy	tax incentive from Muhlenberg Townshipextracted, unreviewed documented Plans for the redevelopment had been put on hold by a tax incentive from Muhlenberg Township that makes it impossible to redevelop the site and attract new tenants without demolishing the existing mall first. en.wikipedia.org
Planning notes	Other developments planned included townhomes, a hotel, and a restaurant.extracted, unreviewed reported

Deals and debt

Date	Event	Price	Parties	Source
2013	Sold	$13.6M closed	BNY Mellon ← GP-Fairgrounds Square LP	Wikipedia

Site context

Transit within 800 m	no rail stationOpenStreetMap
Motorway junctions within 2 km	junctionOpenStreetMap
FEMA flood zone	X · AREA OF MINIMAL FLOOD HAZARDFEMA NFHL
EPA-regulated facilities within 500 m	10: CLOVER FARMS DAIRY COMPANY; HESS STATION 38518; KMART 4840; METRO EDISON CO/HQ BLDG POTTSVILLE PIKE; MOBIL OIL CORP SS# DMTEPA FRS
Census tract 42011012600	2,658 people, 3,214 per sq mi; median household income $72,273; median gross rent $1,200; 31% renters; 7.5% vacant units; 3.8% commute by transitACS 2023 5-year
Walkability (EPA, block group)	index 9.3 of 20; 70 intersections per sq mi; no transit stop within the EPA search radius; land-use mix 0.84; 66,751 jobs within 45 min by car; 11% of households without a carEPA Smart Location
Within a 10–15 minute walk (800 m)	5 of 6 daily needs: 5 grocers, 0 schools, 5 parks or playgrounds, 1 health, 1 civic, 14 food and drink; 0 cycleway segments, 29 sidewalk-tagged segmentsOpenStreetMap
Opportunity Zone	noHUD
Housing permits, Berks County (PA), 2024	165 units in 5+ unit buildings, 18 in 2–4, 214 single-family; 2023: 105 in 5+Census BPS
Social vulnerability (CDC SVI 2022, tract)	overall percentile 0.77; socioeconomic 0.76; housing and transport 0.41; 23% below 150% of poverty; 10% of households with no vehicleCDC/ATSDR
Other atlas sites nearby	2 within 10 km, 2 within 25 km: Abbey Gardens office complex (5.1 km); Berkshire Mall (5.6 km)computed
Overture Maps	place Fairgrounds Square Mall (shopping_mall, confidence 0.77, from Foursquare, Overture); building footprint 6,193 m²Overture (CDLA-Permissive 2.0)
Website and social	www.shopatfairgrounds.com (down or redirecting, status 404)Overture / Internet Archive
Attention: Wikipedia page views	57,861 since 2015; 3,022 in the last 12 months (-40% vs the prior 12); peak 2019-10 with 2,532Wikimedia
Tract change 2013–2023	population +6% (2,495 → 2,658); median income +60% ($45,096 → $72,273); renters 19% → 31%; median home value +38% ($117,200 → $161,700)Census ACS 5-year
Natural hazard risk (FEMA National Risk Index, tract)	relatively low overall (score 21.5); expected annual loss $751,371; high: winter weather; community resilience relatively highFEMA NRI
Tax-credit housing within 1 km	noneHUD LIHTC
Retail trade in the county, 2025 (BLS QCEW)	18,576 jobs in 1,084 establishments; average annual pay $36,821; employment location quotient 1.07; employment +0.0% on the yearBLS QCEW 2025, NAICS 44-45, private
Jobs located in the tract, 2022	2,687 jobs; 1,133 in retail trade, 579 in accommodation and food (workplace blocks summed to tract 42011012600)Census LEHD LODES8 WAC 2022
Upward mobility (Opportunity Atlas, 2010 tract)	children of low-income (25th percentile) families reached the 41th income percentile as adults; 1.3% incarcerated at the 2010 count (208 children in the sample); born 1978–83, measured 2014–15Opportunity Insights
Food access (USDA FARA 2019, 2010 tract)	not a low-access tract at 1 mile; poverty rate 10.5%; median family income $63,857; 135 SNAP householdsUSDA ERS
Schools	Muhlenberg School District (KG-12); 4 public schools within 1 mile: Muhlenberg Jr HS; Muhlenberg El Ctr; Muhlenberg HS; C E Cole Intermediate SchNCES EDGE
Elevation	317 ft above sea level at the site pointUSGS 3DEP
Storm events in the county, 2016-2025	741 county-logged events: 521 thunderstorm wind, 111 flash flood, 61 hail, 18 flood; $369,020 property damage reported; 2 direct deaths; forecast-zone events (most flood, winter and heat) not countedNOAA Storm Events
Homes for sale in ZIP 19605, 2026-09	median list price $336,175 (+1.5% on the year); 29 active listings; median 43 days on market; 18% with a price cutRealtor.com Research
Retail trade in the county, 2012 to 2023	1,099 establishments (-13%); 20,155 jobs (-1%)Census CBP
Housing market in the county	typical home value $310,918 (+4% 1 yr, +37% 5 yr); typical rent $1,551/mo (+3% 1 yr), 2026-09Zillow Research
House price index, tract, 2025	413 (2000 = 100); +9.0% 1 yr, +82% 5 yr, +123% 10 yrFHFA
Traffic on the busiest road within 600 m (2024)	28,135 vehicles a day on CENTRE AV (principal arterial, 4 lanes); 2,448 trucks; 40 counted segmentsFHWA HPMS

Summary, model-written

Fairgrounds Square Mall opened in 1980 with Boscov's and JCPenney as anchors, expanded in 1988 and renovated in 1996. After several ownership changes, the interior closed in 2018, demolition began in 2020, while some tenants remained open, and the site is slated for housing, hotel, retail, and park redevelopment.

Why. The record shows anchor losses such as Montgomery Ward’s closure in 1999 and notes a tax incentive from Muhlenberg Township, but does not explicitly state competition, debt, or other causes for the mall’s decline.

Where it stands. The mall is closed with demolition underway as of 2020, and Hull Property Group is the current owner.

For a planner

Precedent: planned mixed‑use redevelopment including housing, hotel, retail, and park.
Policy tool: tax incentive from Muhlenberg Township supporting the redevelopment.
Open question: timing and phasing of demolition and construction.
Open question: how the new uses will integrate with existing traffic and infrastructure.

For a developer

Site control: Hull Property Group has owned the property since 2016.
Entitlement stage: strategy is redevelopment with proposed new uses of housing, hotel, retail, and park; planning notes mention townhomes, a hotel, and a restaurant.
Constraints: no flood‑zone, transit, or environmental data are provided in the record.
Market signals: tract‑level demographic or sales data are not included in the record.

What we do not know yet

Exact site acreage and current demolition progress are not specified.
Environmental constraints (floodplain, wetlands, contamination) are unknown.
Transit access and surrounding road capacity details are missing.
Market demand data for housing, hotel, and retail in the immediate tract are not provided.
The record is marked as “draft” verification, so some extracted facts may be unreviewed.

Generated by nvidia/nemotron-3-super-120b-a12b on NVIDIA API via Hermes CT from the fields, parcels, deals and context layers on this page, with no outside knowledge. It is regenerated when the record changes and has not been checked by a person. How it is made.

Similar sites

Hickory Hollow Mall, Nashville, TN · Malls · opened 1978; closed 2019; same strategy: redevelop
CityPlace Burlington, Burlington, VT · Malls · opened 1976; closed 2022; same strategy: redevelop
Crossroads Mall, Oklahoma City, OK · Malls · opened 1974; closed 2017; same strategy: redevelop
East Town Mall, Green Bay, WI · Malls · opened 1982; closed 2021; same strategy: redevelop

Elsewhere on the web

Retail history: Fairgrounds Square Mall on DeadMalls.com photos, field notes and visitor memories since 2000; matched by name and state only, check the city; nothing copied here

Pages with photos

Why Fairgrounds Square Mall PA Finally Went Dark and What’s Next ... homegardeners.org
Burlington - Fairgrounds Square Mall Reading, PA August 2019 commons.wikimedia.org
DEAD MALL BLOG dead-malls.tumblr.com
Fairgrounds Square Mall Reading, PA August 2019 | Flickr flickr.com
Shoppers take last stroll through Fairgrounds Square Mall | Berks ... wfmz.com
Fairgrounds Square Mall The Fairgrounds Square Mall will be a to… gettyimages.ae
Fairgrounds Square Mall Redevelopment - GoReadingBerks / Reading Berks ... goreadingberks.com
The Mall At Steamtown: A Look At Fairgrounds Square Mall wnep.com

Search images: Google · Bing · Commons · references: ULI case studies · Google Scholar

Multifamily screen

closed or demolished site (sourced)
county grew 3.2% 2018–23
housing in the record

Inputs: record fields (size, status) and county Census ACS 2018–2023 figures (growth, rent). How the points work. Not a recommendation.

History and original facts

Opened	1980Wikidata
Closed	2018extracted, unreviewed documented On April 30, 2018, Hull Property Group closed the interior of the mall. en.wikipedia.org
Stores at peak	75extracted, unreviewed reported
Original developer	Hull Property Group, Interstate Propertiesextracted, unreviewed documented The Fairgrounds Square Mall was developed by Interstate Properties en.wikipedia.org
Anchors	Burlington Coat Factory, Boscov's, Limerick Furniture
Organisations in Wikidata (undated)	Hull Storey Gibson
County	Berks County
Census division	2 · Mid-Atlantic
Notes	Wikipedia categories: Demolished shopping malls in the United States

Not yet recorded: acres, GLA, retrofit year. Know it? Tell us.

Background

Fairgrounds Square Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located just north of Reading, Pennsylvania in Muhlenberg Township. It was anchored by Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, and Limerick Furniture. Smaller stores included Super Shoes, Planet Fitness, an AMC Classic movie theater, and Golden Eagle Comics. The mall, which once had 75 stores, had 14 stores and many vacant storefronts before it closed in 2018. It was located on 5th Street Highway

Excerpt from Wikipedia (authors and history), CC BY-SA 4.0. May be older than the record above.

Timeline

1965 Boscov's opened as freestanding store adjacent to speedway
1980 Opened (Wikidata)
1980 Mall officially opened with Boscov's and JCPenney as anchors
1988 Mall expansion added several stores and Phar-Mor
1996 Mall renovated, Montgomery Ward built as third anchor
1999 Montgomery Ward closed; mall sold to Jager Management affiliate GP Properties Inc
2005 Burlington Coat Factory replaced National Wholesale Liquidators; Jason's became Super Shoes and Planet Fitness
2013 Mall sold to BNY Mellon for $13.6 million in US Marshals auction
2016 Hull Property Group took over mall with plans to revitalize
2018 Interior of mall closed; 12 tenants remaining
2020 Demolition of mall began

Sources

found by hermes-web (staffboxfree) · supports: after notes, original developer, public subsidy, status, strategy, year closed
20 quoted sentences
On April 30, 2018, Hull Property Group closed the interior of the mall.
The Fairgrounds Square Mall was developed by Interstate Properties
Boscov's, Burlington Coat Factory, AMC Classic, Super Shoes, Planet Fitness, Baja Beach Tanning Club, and Quest Diagnostics remained open after the mall closed.
On April 30, 2018, Hull Property Group closed the interior of the mall.
found by hermes-web (staffboxfree)
1 quoted sentence
Owner | Hull Property Group

Cite

Retrofit Atlas (2026). "Fairgrounds Square Mall, Muhlenberg, PA." Record m-5b117db75b, imported, unreviewed. Built on the public Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed. https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/pa/muhlenberg-fairgrounds-square-mall/ (accessed 2026-10-20).

BibTeX

@misc{retrofitatlas_muhlenbergfairgroundssquaremall,
  title = {Fairgrounds Square Mall, Muhlenberg, PA},
  author = {{Retrofit Atlas}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/pa/muhlenberg-fairgrounds-square-mall/}},
  year = {2026},
  note = {Record m-5b117db75b, release 2026.10.20, tier: draft. Built on the Retrofitting Suburbia map (Dunham-Jones and Williamson) and the sources listed on the record. Accessed 2026-10-20}
}

How to cite, versioning

Link back

Paste on a project page: <a href="https://retrofitatlas.org/malls/pa/muhlenberg-fairgrounds-square-mall/">Fairgrounds Square Mall on Retrofit Atlas</a>