Owners of the Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills have been making progress after years of inactivity on the campus.
Monday morning, a status conference, or non-jury trial, to address the criminal charge against the owners of the Mills was continued for a second time.
Last April, the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office charged New York-based Namdar Realty Group with one misdemeanor count of creating a public nuisance due to potholes and unpaved roads throughout the complex.
According to Steven Townsend, the attorney representing the realty group, Namdar has been doing work to abate the damages. Before winter hit, shoppers saw the milling and paving of Village Center Drive, which runs in front of Lowe’s, Ross and Aldi. Galleria Drive, just off Pittsburgh Mills Boulevard, the site’s main entrance, quickly followed.
“My understanding from the District Attorney’s Office is that, should we not follow protocol and continue with progress, then they’re going to move forward with the trial,” Townsend said.
The next status conference is scheduled for May 11.
“The purpose of a status conference is to make sure my client’s doing what they’ve agreed to do, which is remediate the issue down there,” Townsend said.
He said the remediation will address road paving, pothole repair and patching. Townsend said the work has been going on for some time, but was interrupted by winter weather.
“We met with Frazer Township late last year, started doing the remediation,” he said. “Now that the weather has broken, we do a short postponement to make sure that we’re fulfilling our obligations in continuing remediation.”
While Townsend didn’t know the cost of remediation, he said the work needed in the area is “extensive.”
“The whole goal is to have the place repaired,” Townsend said.
