Sinkhole standoff: College Township, Nittany Mall’s owners clash over costly repairs
College Township’s relationship with the commercial real estate firm that manages the Nittany Mall seemingly sunk a bit lower Monday.
Namdar Realty Group asked a Centre County judge Monday to bar the township from entering its property to repair a sinkhole, arguing the township does not have the authority to perform the work that was approved last month by its council.
College Township is aware of the filings, but Assistant Manager Mike Bloom wrote in an email to the Centre Daily Times that the municipality would offer no additional comment since it is an ongoing legal matter.
College Township’s council voted last month to approve a more than $153,000 bid to repair what assistant township engineer Jere Northridge described as a “civilian safety hazard” in the stormwater basin near the intersection of Shiloh Road and East College Avenue.
In its legal filing, the mall’s management group said it discovered the sinkhole in the latter half of 2023 and hired a landscaper in the spring to make repairs. But shortly after beginning, the landscaper discovered the problem was “much larger than originally anticipated.”
Namdar said the township demanded the work be completed by mid-June, a request it said was made “without regard to the newly discovered problems with the sinkhole.”
College Township responded by attempting to repair the sinkhole itself.
“At this time, if College Township wants to see this open hole and this safety hazard corrected, I believe that we’re going to need do this ourselves through our own workforce, and then back bill through our legal processes to recover those funds,” Northridge said at the board’s Aug. 15 meeting.
The mall’s management company, however, argued in its new filing that the township based its decision on a code that deals only with stormwater facilities that are improperly maintained — which Namdar claimed is not the case with the sinkhole on its property.
“The stormwater basin does not involve improper maintenance, but an unforeseen subterranean collapse and creation of a sinkhole,” attorney Jeffrey Stover wrote. “(Namdar) had acted in good faith in working out a solution for the sinkhole.”
The more than $153,000 contract that College Township expects Namdar to ultimately repay is a “significant” increase over what the management company would be able to do on its own, Stover wrote.
It’s unclear when the repairs may begin. No hearings were scheduled as of Tuesday. The next College Township council meeting is scheduled for Sept. 19.
This story was originally published September 11, 2024 at 8:40 AM.