For years, Concord Mall has been the white elephant of Route 202—the shopping center that’s short on customers but too big to ignore.
Five years after being acquired by a buyer of distressed malls, Concord is reportedly changing hands again.
This time, the prospective owner is Abrams Realty & Development, an emerging player in the reimaging of aging malls across the greater Philadelphia region, a strategy that blends demolition, mixed-use construction and retaining select retailers.
New Castle County Councilwoman Dee Durham (D-District 2) says a reinvention of the mall is something many of her constituents have been waiting for.
“There’s so much opportunity to do something great,” she says. “People are always asking me ‘what’s going on with the mall?’ A half empty space and a huge expanse of asphalt isn’t serving the community.”
Abrams’ most ambitious proposal so far is Exton Square Mall, a 75-acre property it acquired for roughly $34 million. Plans call for demolishing most of the enclosed structure and replacing it with a walkable, mixed-use “town center” featuring apartments, townhomes, retail, medical space and entertainment venues. Residential development is the engine that drives the concept, reflecting a broader industry shift in which apartments and condos supersede obsolete retail space.
"People are always asking me ‘what’s going on with the mall?’' A half empty space and a huge expanse of asphalt isn’t serving the community.”New Castle County Councilmember Dee Durham
The Exton project also would create public gathering areas, a main street layout and proximity to grocery stores to attract renters. But the project has been bogged down by resistance tied to concerns about density, traffic and sewer access.
At Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, Abrams is pursuing a more retail-focused strategy. Rather than introducing housing, the plan focuses on demolishing much of the enclosed mall and replacing it with an open-air retail concept.
A consistent in Abrams’ redevelopment strategy is the value of legacy anchor tenants, particularly Boscov's, the largest family-owned department store chain in America. Both the Exton and Berkshire plans retain Boscov’s. At Concord, Boscov’s has been outperforming Macy’s, the mall’s only other department store. In March 2025, Boscov’s logged 15,611 visits, while Macy’s received 8,027.
Based on Abrams’ Exton playbook, a likely scenario for Concord would be a mixed-use redevelopment incorporating housing, though that will depend on county approvals and infrastructure constraints.
Housing is a component Durham would like to see at Concord, given a 50,000-home shortfall identified by the Delaware State Housing Authority (DSHA). She’s looking forward to working with constituents and developers and will press for public meetings beyond the traffic study and required public input that will be part of the approval process.
At 45.5 acres, Concord’s footprint is relatively tight for a major shopping center, less than half the 100-acre site of Christiana Mall, Delaware’s power center. But in New Castle County, which is largely built out, developable land is at a premium. The derelict Jackson Inn, sited on a 2.03-acre lot on Lancaster Avenue in Wilmington, recently sold for $2.5 million to a developer who proposes a convenience store with multiple gas pumps.
Go south on Route 202/Concord Pike from the Concord Mall’s location in North Wilmington, and redevelopment is in full swing.
Just down the road on Silverside Road is The Concord, a luxury apartment complex offering such amenities as a fitness center, resort-style pool, and mini-spa. Nestled in a mixed-use development, it’s an easy stroll from restaurants, shops and services.
Farther south on Concord Pike is Avenue North, a 79-acre redevelopment anchored by a 12-story futuristic office structure. Ultimately, Avenue will feature 360 apartments, walking and biking trails, restaurants, a spa, beauty salon, a Fred Astaire dance studio, and space for ChristianaCare, AstraZeneca and other employers.
Concord Mall was born in 1969, the first enclosed shopping center in New Castle County. The mall was acquired for $80 million in 1998 by Wilmington-based Allied Properties, which also owns the Concord North shopping center adjacent to the mall, as well as the successful Christiana Fashion Center and several other properties. At the time, Concord boasted a 99% occupancy rate and was in the top 15 percent of malls nationwide in sales per square foot.
In January 2020, Allied exited and the mall was acquired by Namdar Realty Group, a Long Island, New York, firm that specializes in so-called zombie malls, the retail term for malls that are still open but in a state of decay. At the time, the mall occupancy rate was down to about 40 percent with Sears poised to vacate its 180,000-square-foot anchor store.
Then things got worse. In March 2020, the mall closed for several months when non-essential businesses went on lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic.
But by 2022, occupancy was up to 80 percent, boosted, in part, by a migration of small local businesses from the moribund Tri-State Mall in Claymont, including several youth-oriented apparel stores and a nail, waxing and lash salon.
Concord’s turnaround didn’t stick, due, in part, to national retailers’ migration away from the mall model in favor of free-standing stores. As leases expired, merchants didn’t renew. Recent exits include the fashion-forward apparel store H&M and long-time tenant Bath and Body Works.
“People are frustrated by the large number of vacancies. I think they are looking forward to something the community can enjoy,” Durham says.
It’s a common scenario on the blighted landscape of shopping malls. More than 1,600 malls—that’s 64 percent—have closed since the 1980s. Increasingly, shuttered malls and struggling survivors are being reimagined.
Ensconced on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, Mashpee Commons is widely considered the poster child of shopping center redevelopment. The first-ever retrofit of a retail space in America, it’s now a 140-acre mix of housing, shops, restaurants, and other services within a walkable street grid that connects Mashpee with surrounding neighborhoods. The redevelopment also has created 1,000 jobs, a mix of short-term and long-term positions, and is generating taxes that are funding local schools and infrastructure.
The rub is it’s taken almost 40 years for Mashpee to reach critical mass due to regulatory hurdles. As of August, only 78 of 482 approved homes had been built.
Approvals and regulations aren’t the only obstacles to Concord’s rebirth. Its long-dark Sears anchor store is owned by a holding company and it isn’t clear how that will impact plans. Macy’s also owns its anchor store.
Meanwhile, mall watchers are speculating as to what will be the next twist in Concord’s story. Abrams did not respond to a call to its headquarters in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania. A spokesman said Boscov’s management team is on its annual weeklong planning trip and is not available for comment. Naomi Hoffner, a spokeswoman for a public relations firm representing Namdar, said the company has no comment at this time.
