A Pittsburgh mall sold at an auction for less than the retail price of an Amazon Echo.
Attorney Nicholas Godfrey made the only bid at a foreclosure auction for the Pittsburgh Mills shopping center Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported. Godfrey, representing the mortgage holder Wells Fargo, bought the 1.1 million-square-foot mall for $100—despite the fact that it was once valued at nearly $200 million.
Wells Fargo foreclosed on the mall in November 2015 after its developers, Mills Corp. and Zamias Services, didn't pay back the $143 million they owed the bank. With the auction bid, Wells Fargo essentially bought the mall from itself.
With nearly half of its storefronts are empty, the decade-old mall has seen its value plummet from $190 million in 2007 to an appraisal of $11 million in August. It mirrors the slow decline of shopping malls as Internet retail and specialty shops dominate retail.
Still, the retail hub still expects to continue with business as usual.
"We expect the day-to-day to continue," Anthony Stephens, the shopping center's general manager, told the Tribune. "The mall is open and ready for business."