Washington Mall in Pennsylvania, once a bustling shopping center, is being redeveloped into a new retail hub featuring Costco.
Washington Mall, located in South Strabane Township, Pennsylvania, opened on October 17, 1968, as a 663,000-square-foot indoor shopping center anchored by a three-level J.C. Penney. Over the years, it grew to include junior anchors like G.C. Murphy, Thorofare, and Giant Eagle. Expansion efforts in 1974 and 1987 brought new retail space, a two-screen Cinemette Theater, and later, an eight-screen theater and a significantly larger Giant Eagle store. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, however, many original tenants had closed or relocated, including the departure of Giant Eagle in 1999 and J.C. Penney’s final closure in 2014.
Despite redevelopment proposals in the early 2000s to convert the mall into an outward-facing shopping center, financial hurdles stalled progress. The mall steadily declined and, following the closure of its last interior tenant in 2014, remained largely vacant. A brief revival was attempted with repurposed spaces such as a distribution center for Gabe’s, but the site continued to deteriorate.
In 2025, Washington County secured federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act to demolish the long-dormant Washington Mall. Plans for the site’s redevelopment include the construction of a large Costco—set to become one of the region’s largest—as well as a recreational vehicle dealership. Nearby businesses are relocating to accommodate the project, which is expected to begin demolition in this spring.
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