Former JCPenney at Clearview Mall sold to new owners
For the first time in years, a shuttered anchor store at the Clearview Mall is being renovated by a new owner.
Larry Brooks, director of real estate for 4th Dimension Properties — owner of the Clearview Mall since early 2024 — confirmed the company sold the parcel of land containing the former JCPenney building to another developer, although he was unable to say what the space will become.
Brooks added the sale was part of the company’s wider plan to increase the mall’s occupancy by replacing once-empty spaces with new businesses.
“We're always concerned with the growth of our locations,” Brooks said. “We once had a closed JCPenney, now we'll have an open building.”
Butler County property records show the JCPenney space was subdivided from the rest of the mall and sold for $2.5 million to a limited company called 101 Clearview Associates, L.P.
A search of Pennsylvania business records for the company turned up an address that matches that of Pittsburgh-based real estate developer Madison Acquisitions. The company did not respond to requests for comment from the Butler Eagle.
The JCPenney store at the Clearview Mall closed for good in August 2020 as part of a mass closure of locations by the struggling department store chain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. More than five years after the closure, signage for JCPenney can still be seen on both the interior and exterior of the mall.
As of Thursday afternoon, Aug. 7, the area around the exterior entrances to the former JCPenney was closed off by perimeter fencing and construction vehicles. The interior entrances were covered up with drywall.
Center Township Supervisor Philip Wulff hopes the new investment in the mall will spur other developers to follow suit and fill vacancies in the location that only features 17 operating stores, restaurants and other establishments.
“We're hoping it'll spur a little growth inside,” Wulff said.
