Hillcrest Shopping Center in Lower Burrell to be auctioned, starting bid at $1.14 million

With progress made at Burrell Plaza, all eyes have turned to Hillcrest Shopping Center in Lower Burrell.

The shopping center off Leechburg and Wildlife Lodge roads will be auctioned off online from June 10 to 12, according to a listing.

The starting bid is $1.14 million.

“From a city standpoint, we’re excited about the possibility of the sale of that plaza,” Mayor Chris Fabry said. “There is so much potential to make that a go-to location in (Lower) Burrell. It is our hope that new owners will mean new businesses.”

The property is owned by U.S. National Bank Association. It sits on 19.8 acres and includes two anchor stores: Community Market and Roses, a discount retail store.

Other tenants include Shoe Sensation, Fine Wine and Good Spirits, NTB Tire & Service Center and GameStop. The listing said the plaza has a nearly 78% occupancy rate.

The shopping center was built in 1960 and renovated in 1993.

According to the listing, average daily traffic counts surrounding the shopping center top more than 17,000 vehicles.

“The residents in (Lower) Burrell are hungry for new shopping options and will surely support incoming businesses,” Fabry said.

Fabry said the city would like to see progress at Hillcrest like it recently did with Burrell Plaza. That property, the former home to JCPenney and Montgomery Ward also on Leechburg Road, sat vacant for years until Schaedler Yesco, U-Haul and Dunkin’ moved in.

“We would love to see the same progress made there and will help in any way possible to make that happen,” Fabry said.

Councilman David Stoltz also is looking forward to a potential sale. He said a few people in the community have shown interest in acquiring the property.

“In my opinion, it’s an all-around good thing if someone buys it,” Stoltz said.

He stressed that, while the city government can’t force a business to relocate to the city, officials are trying to make Lower Burrell more attractive to business owners.

“We continue to talk to local business owners and there’s a lot of interest in coming here, and we’re slowly filling spots up,” Stoltz said.

The auction includes the shopping center and the stand-alone PNC Bank and NTB buildings in the complex.

Eric Greenfield, the sale adviser, didn’t respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

A few weeks ago, U.S. Bank, Lower Burrell and Burrell School District reached a settlement that lowered the property’s assessment to $560,000 — a roughly 18% decrease from its previous assessment of $678,960. Under the new assessment, the city taxes on the property will amount to about $13,860, a loss of about $3,000 per year.

The school district will lose about $19,000 per year, based on the new assessment and expected tax revenue from the property of about $62,000.

A mill for the school district brings in roughly $151,000. A mill for the city is worth about $122,250.

Fabry said the city wouldn’t see any changes unless the property is reassessed again. It is “hard to judge” what a local service tax, earned-income tax or business privilege tax would generate from the parcel after the sale, Fabry said.

“The benefit of a filled Hillcrest Plaza extends far beyond tax dollars,” he said. “It will provide local shopping and dining options, increase out-of-town visitors and be much more appealing when driving by.”