Century III Mall

Century III Mall was an enclosed shopping mall located in the southern Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The mall was built on a former slag dump in 1979. The Century III Mall planning began in 1976 and opened in 1979. It was the third largest shopping mall in the world when it opened in 1979. The mall was originally developed and owned by Edward J. DeBartolo Corporation. From 1996-2011, Century III was owned and operated by Simon Property Group. It is currently owned and operated by Las Vegas-based Moonbeam Capital Investments LLC. JCPenney is the last remaining store on the property.

The mall was originally built in 1979. The three-level mall contained 1,290,000 square feet of retail space and over 200 shops and restaurants. The Phase I segment of seventy-five stores was dedicated on October 24, 1979. This included three anchors; a 2-level 121,300 square foot, Pittsburgh-based Kaufmann's, and 2-level 173,200 square foot JCPenney. While it is widely rumored that Montgomery Ward opened in Phase I, this is simply not true. Montgomery Ward was physically at the far end of Phase II. The Kaufmann's unit was the chain's fourth shopping mall store and the first in the Pittsburgh region to anchor a mall-type center. Phase II, with the 2-level 168,100 square foot Montgomery Ward and forty-six stores debuted March 12, 1980. Phase II of Century III Mall added the third, fourth and fifth anchors to the complex including a 2-level 126,000 square foot Gimbels-Pittsburgh which began business in July 1980 and 2-level 231,000 square foot Sears which opened in October 1980. In 1997, the mall received an $8 million face-lift.

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