Another NJ mall sold and shoppers are wondering what’s next

Another mall bites the dust. Or at least limps along.

The massive Palisades Center in West Nyack just sold for $175 million after going through foreclosure, and while technically it’s still open, this feels like yet another chapter in New Jersey’s long, slow mall goodbye tour.

If you grew up in North Jersey, you know this place. It’s not technically Jersey, but a lot of us crossed the bridge specifically to shop there on Sundays because of Bergen County’s blue laws. It became our workaround mall. Fifteen minutes from the GWB, and suddenly you could buy socks, jeans, and furniture on a Sunday. Revolutionary.

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Now it’s owned by Black Diamond Capital Management, which already held hundreds of millions in mall debt and ended up being the only bidder at auction. They say they plan to keep it open and “reimagine” it with more dining and entertainment. We’ve heard that before.

Look, I hope it works. Truly. But how many times have we seen this movie?

So many Jersey malls are already gone or hanging on by a thread. Monmouth Mall. Livingston Mall. Burlington Center. It’s hard not to feel like this is just another domino.

According to Jersey Digs, at its peak, Palisades pulled in over 20 million visitors a year. That number has dropped, and the mall reportedly lost nearly 80% of its value since 2016. 80%! That’s a free fall.

The big question now is whether this becomes a positive transformation or another slow fade. Will it turn into one of those mixed-use “experience” centers that we see popping up? Or will it end up half-empty with a couple of restaurants holding it up?

For New Jersey shoppers, this one hits close to home because this wasn’t just a mall. It was a Sunday escape hatch.

I’d love to see it survive. But I also know how this usually goes.

I really do hope they make something great out of it. But I also won’t be shocked if people end up saying, “Remember Palisades?” right alongside all the other malls we already miss.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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