Crown American

American real estate investment firm

Crown AmericanCompany type| Private

|

Industry| Commercial real estate
Founded| 1950
Headquarters| Johnstown, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Key people

| Michael A. Barletta, President and CEO
Products| Hotels, restaurants, office, retail
Website| crownamericanassociates.com

Crown American is a privately held American company that manages and develops commercial real estate. The corporate headquarters is in downtown Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in a building designed by architect Michael Graves.[1]

## History

[edit]

The company was founded in 1950 as Crown Construction. Frank J. Pasquerilla, who joined less than a year later, became president in 1956 and sole owner in 1961. The company's name was changed to Crown American in 1972 and in 1979, it acquired the Hess's department store chain. In 1993, the company split into two entities. The shopping mall portion of the company became a publicly held real estate investment trust, Crown American Realty Trust, and Crown American Hotels controlled the company's hospitality businesses. At its peak, Crown American operated 30 shopping malls, the Hess's department store chain (with 73 locations), and 20 hotels and motels.

In 2003, the shopping mall development and management unit, Crown American Realty Trust, was sold to * PREIT.[2] The hospitality unit, Crown American Hotels, was retained. In 2005, 22 of the company's 26 hotels were acquired by W2001 Eastern Hotel Realty, an affiliate of the Archon Group, which assumed responsibility for their management. Frank Pasquerilla died from a stroke in 1999. His son, Mark E. Pasquerilla, serves as chairman of Crown American Hotels. Mark Pasquerilla joined the company in 1981 and was named president in 1990. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, completed a master of science degree in international relations at the London School of Economics, and studied international affairs at the University of Cologne. Michael Barletta is president and chief executive officer.

## List of former malls

[edit]

Crown American has owned a total of 30 shopping malls during its history. When they merged with PREIT in 2003, they owned 26 malls, and were partners in one other.[2][3] Crown American also owned a ground lease for an anchor pad at the Westgate Mall in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, though they did not own the mall itself.[4]

Mall name | Year opened | Year closed | Location | Owners

|
|
|
|

Carlisle Plaza Mall[note 1] | 1964 |  | Carlisle, PA | Crown American 1969–2002; Michael Joseph Development Corp. 2002–2005; Cedar Realty Trust 2005–2012; Giant PA 2012–present[5]
Logan Valley Mall | November 1965 |  | Altoona, PA | Crown American 1965–2003; PREIT 2003–2017; Namdar Realty Group 2017–present[6]
North Hanover Mall | 1967 |  | Hanover, PA | Crown American 1967–2003; PREIT 2003–2014; Namdar Realty Group 2014–present[7][8]
Shenango Valley Mall | 1967 |  | Hermitage, PA | Crown American 1967–2003; PREIT 2003–2004; Lightstone 2004–2009; JSMN Shenango Valley Mall 2009–2018; Iowa Square Realty LLC 2018–2019; GFM 23 LLC 2019–2022; Butterfli Holdings LLC (FLICORE LLC) 2022–present[9][10][11][12][13]
Nittany Mall | January 1968 |  | State College, PA | Crown American 1968–2003; PREIT 2003–2014; Namdar Realty Group 2014–present[8]
Viewmont Mall | 1968 |  | Scranton, PA | Crown American 1968–2003; PREIT 2003–present
Washington Crown Center | 1969 |  | Washington, PA | Crown American 1969–2003; PREIT 2003–2016; Kohan Retail Investment Group 2016–present[14]
Middletown Mall[note 2] | 1969 |  | Fairmont, WV | Crown American 1969–1970; Crown American (50%) / First Union Real Estate Equity (50%) 1970–1995; Crown American 1995–1998; Dietrich Steven Fansler 1998–2018; General Acquisitions LLC 2018–present[15][16][17][18][19]
Wyoming Valley Mall | 1971 |  | Wilkes-Barre, PA | Crown American 1971–1972; Crown American (50%) / First Union Real Estate Equity (50%) 1972–1995; Crown American 1995–2003; PREIT 2003–2019; GS Mortgage Securities Trust 2019–2021; Kohan Retail Investment Group 2021–2023; 4th Dimension Properties 2023–present[15][16][20][21]
Uniontown Mall | 1972 |  | Uniontown, PA | Crown American 1972–2003; PREIT 2003–2015; Namdar Realty Group 2015–present[22]
Palmer Park Mall | 1973 |  | Easton, PA | Crown American (50%) / PREIT (50%) 1973–2003; PREIT 2003–2016; CityView Commercial LLC 2016–present[2][23]
Capital City Mall | 1974 |  | Camp Hill, PA | Crown American 1974–2003; PREIT 2003–present
Valley Mall | August 1974 |  | Hagerstown, MD | Shopco Malls 1974–1989; ERE Yarmouth 1989–1997; Crown American 1997–2003; PREIT 2003–present[24]
South Mall | 1975 |  | Allentown, PA | Hess's Department Stores, Inc. 1975–1979; Crown American 1979–2003; PREIT 2003–2014; Nicholas Park Mall, LLC. 2014–present[25][2][26]
Francis Scott Key Mall | 1978 |  | Frederick, MD | Crown American 1978–2003; PREIT 2003–present
Lycoming Mall | 1978 | February 24, 2023[27] | Pennsdale, PA | Crown American 1978–2003; PREIT 2003–2016, Kohan Retail Investment Group 2016–2023, FamVest Partners LLC  2023–present[28][29]
Valley View Mall | 1980 |  | La Crosse, WI | Equitable Life Insurance Society of the United States Unknown–2002; Crown American 2002–2003; PREIT 2003–present[30]
Schuylkill Mall | October 9, 1980 | January 15, 2018 | Frackville, PA | Crown American 1980–2003; PREIT 2003–2007; Empire Reality Investments 2007–2017; NP New Castle LLC 2017–2018
Crossroads Mall | 1981 |  | Beckley, WV | Beckley-Jacksonville Ltd. Partnership Unknown–1998; Crown American 1998–2003; PREIT 2003–2017; Namdar Realty Group 2017–present[31][32]
Jacksonville Mall | 1981 |  | Jacksonville, NC | Beckley-Jacksonville Ltd. Partnership Unknown–1998; Crown American 1998–2003; PREIT 2003–present[31][7]
West Manchester Mall[note 3] | 1981 |  | York, PA | Crown American 1981–2003; PREIT 2003–2004; Lightstone 2004–2012; M&R Investors 2012–present[9][33]
Chambersburg Mall | 1982 | June 2023 | Scotland, PA | Crown American 1982–2003; PREIT 2003–2013; Namdar Realty Group 2013–present[34]
Wiregrass Commons Mall | August 1986 |  | Dothan, AL | Metropolitan Life Insurance Company Unknown–2002; Crown American 2002–2003; PREIT 2003–2016; Farallon Capital Management 2016–2018; Namdar Realty Group 2018–present
Patrick Henry Mall | 1987 |  | Newport News, VA | Crown American 1987–2003; PREIT 2003–present
New River Valley Mall[note 4] | 1988 |  | Christiansburg, VA | Crown American 1988–2003; PREIT 2003–2016; Farallon Capital Management 2016–2019; RockStep Capital 2019–present
Oak Ridge Mall[note 5] | 1989[note 6] | 2016 | Oak Ridge, TN | Crown American 1989–2003; Crown Investments Trust 2003; Oak Ridge City Center LLC 2003–2016; RealtyLink (TN Oak Ridge Rutgers LLC) 2016–present[35][36]
Phillipsburg Mall | 1989 | 2020  | Phillipsburg, NJ | Crown American 1989–2003; PREIT 2003–2013; Namdar Realty Group 2013–present[2][37]
Ashland Town Center | 1989-10-04  |  | Ashland, KY | Crown American 33% / Glimcher Realty 33% / Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation 33% 1989–unknown; Glimcher Realty unknown–2015; Washington Prime Group 2015–present[38][39]
Martinsburg Mall[note 7] | 1991 |  | Martinsburg, WV | Crown American 1991–2003; PREIT 2003–2004; Lightstone 2004–2009; Jones Lang LaSalle 2009–2012; Mountain State University 2010–2013; Paramount Developers 2013–present[9][40][41]
Bradley Square Mall | 1991 |  | Cleveland, TN | Crown American 1991–2003; PREIT 2003–2004; Lightstone 2004–2009; The Shane Morrison Companies 2009-present[9][40]
Mount Berry Square | 1991 |  | Rome, GA | Crown American 1991–2003; PREIT 2003–2004; Lightstone 2004–2009; Jones Lang LaSalle 2009–2012; Hull Property Group 2012-present[9][42][43]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Now known as The Point at Carlisle Plaza
2. ^ Now known as Middletown Commons
3. ^ Now known as West Manchester Town Center
4. ^ Now known as Uptown Christiansburg
5. ^ Now known as Main Street Oak Ridge
6. ^ Originally opened in the 1950's as an open-air shopping center before later being converted to an enclosed mall
7. ^ Now known as Foxcroft Towne Center at Martinsburg

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Crown American Headquarters Building". Crown American Realty Trust. Archived from the original on 1998-02-07. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
2. ^ a b c d e Blumenau, Kurt (November 12, 2003). "Crown American is bought by PREIT". The Morning Call. Retrieved 24 May 2016.
3. ^ Michael Roknick, Michael (May 15, 2003). "Pa. firm buying mall's owner". Sharon Herald. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
4. ^ SEC. "Crown American Realty Trust 1996 Annual Report 10-K". SEC.report. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
5. ^ "Key Point events since 2002". The Sentinel. March 1, 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
6. ^ "New York companies buy Logan Valley Mall". altoonamirror.com. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
7. ^ a b "PREIT Announces New Redevelopment Plans for North Hanover and Jacksonville Malls". www.snl.com. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
8. ^ a b "Other malls have found Namdar a good owner, but no panacea". Concord Monitor. 2016-06-10. Retrieved 2021-08-01. "In 2014, Namdar bought Nittany and a similar Pennsylvania mall, North Hanover Mall, for $32.3 million. They were sold by a Pennsylvania real estate trust called PREIT that has unloaded more than a dozen malls in an attempt to pay down its debt load."
9. ^ a b c d e "Shenango Valley Mall Gets New Owner | Business Journal Daily". archive.businessjournaldaily.com. Retrieved 2021-07-24.
10. ^ Roknick, Michael (2018-02-16). "Shenango Valley Mall enters receivership after loan default but remains open". New Castle News. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
11. ^ Poole, Eric (2019-02-08). "Shenango Valley Mall changes hands". New Castle News. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
12. ^ Dye, David and Carey, Renee (2019-08-01). "Shenango Valley Mall sold to Akron-based company". New Castle News. Retrieved 2021-08-01.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. ^ Dye, David L. (August 10, 2022). "Shenango Valley Mall under new ownership". The Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
14. ^ Urbanski, Al (2016-08-16). "PREIT sells Washington Crown Center to Kohan". Chain Store Age. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
15. ^ a b "FIRST UNION REAL ESTATE EQUITY v. Crown American Corp., 639 F. Supp. 838 (M.D. Pa. 1986)". Justia Law. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
16. ^ a b SEC. "Winthrop Realty Liquidating Trust Prospectus 424B2". SEC.report. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
17. ^ Dahlia, John (2018-04-27). "Middletown Mall sale for nearly $13.7 million moves forward". WV News. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
18. ^ "Quarterly Report". sec.gov.
19. ^ McLaughlin, Justin (2006-05-18). "Property around mall to be auctioned". Times West Virginian. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
20. ^ Lynott, Jerry (28 August 2021). "Struggling Wyoming Valley Mall has new owner". Times Leader. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
21. ^ Tomkavage, Robert (17 October 2023). "Florida firm acquires Wyoming Valley Mall". Scranton Times-Tribune. Retrieved 18 October 2023.
22. ^ "PREIT Sells 700,000-Square-Foot Uniontown Mall for $23 Million". Shopping Center Business. 2015-08-07. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
23. ^ Pedersen, Brian (2016-02-24). "New York firm buys Palmer Park Mall for $18M". LVB.com. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
24. ^ "Mall in Hagerstown bought by Pa. company". baltimoresun.com. 1997-11-20. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
25. ^ Salerno, Allison (1994-09-11). "MALL STORES HOPE BON-TON BRINGS GOOD TIMES AS IT REPLACES HESS'S". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
26. ^ Harris, Jon (2017-11-17). "South Mall, under new ownership, on an 'upward path'". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
27. ^ Farenish, Melissa (February 25, 2023). "End of an era: Local folks recall memories of Lycoming Mall". NorthcentralPA. Retrieved 26 February 2023.
28. ^ "Lycoming Mall sells for more than $26M". Williamsport Sun-Gazette. 2016-04-16. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
29. ^ Crossley, Pat (June 23, 2023). "Real estate closing marks official sale of former Lycoming Mall". Williamsport Sun-Gazette. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
30. ^ "Crown completes Wis. mall purchase". www.bizjournals.com. 2002-09-27. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
31. ^ a b Jones, Dow (1998-04-30). "Company News; Crown American to Buy Two Malls for $61 Million". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-14.
32. ^ Adelman, Jacob (2017-01-17). "PREIT sells Beaver Valley Mall in Western Pennsylvania for $24.2M". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
33. ^ "Lightstone Sells York, Pa., Mall". Commercial Real Estate Direct. 2012-09-21. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
34. ^ Schooley, Tim (2015-08-05). "New York firm buys region's 15th-biggest mall". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2021-08-02.
35. ^ "Crown American Sells Tenn. Mall". www.crenews.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
36. ^ "Oak Ridge City Center, LLC, Announces Purchase of Oak Ridge Mall". www.businesswire.com. 2003-06-18. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
37. ^ Harris, Jon (2019-02-26). "What happened to the Phillipsburg Mall? Behind the vacancies and decay: A tough retail climate and low-investment owners". The Morning Call. Retrieved 2019-08-05.
38. ^ Jeutt, James (2014-10-27). "Town Center seamed with changes of 1980s". The Independent Online. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
39. ^ Thomas, Lauren (2021-03-04). "Mall owner Washington Prime reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy protection". CNBC. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
40. ^ a b "Lightstone's Trouble at the Shopping Mall". Wall Street Journal. 2008-12-10. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
41. ^ "Back to School for Failing Mall". Wall Street Journal. 2010-04-14. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
42. ^ Steele, Bryant. "Days of change at Mount Berry Square mall; Mall weathers economy with new ownership". Northwest Georgia News. Retrieved 2021-08-01.
43. ^ "Hull Storey Gibson acquires Mount Berry Square Mall". Chain Store Age. Retrieved 2021-07-24.

* New York Times, "Pennsylvania REIT to Buy Crown American Realty Trust," May 15, 2003.
* Press Release - 14 May 2003 of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust: Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and Crown American Realty Trust Announce Merger Agreement; Combined Company to Become a Leading Mid-Atlantic Shopping Mall REIT
* "Family pledges $5 million to fund spiritual center," Intercom Online, Volume 27, Issue 26, Pennsylvania State University, April 2, 1998.
* Tomas Kellner, "Open for Business," Forbes Magazine, September 6, 2004.
* "IRWeblink." IRWeblink. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2013

## External links

[edit]

* Crown American Hotels website
* Archon Hospitality
* Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust