Wall partially collapses at North Hanover PA Mall
A wall at the site for the former JCPenney partially collapsed at North Hanover Mall.
The North Hanover Mall has been condemned pending repairs after a wall partially collapsed on Monday, Nov. 17, officials say.
“Because of the severity of the life safety issues that were found inside the mall, we didn’t have any choice other than to condemn the entire mall,” Hanover Borough Chief Code Enforcement Officer Chris Miller said at the scene of the collapse.
Rural King and DaVita Dialysis, which are separated by firewalls internally from the rest of the mall’s structure, were not closed as of Monday evening. Rural King is subdivided from the mall as a whole, with Rural King owning its own property, records show.
Miller said the mall structure has had issues since the demolition of the three-story JCPenney section, which came after a fire ripped through the section at the mall three years ago. The damage was estimated at more than $1 million at the time.
“There was a temporary fix, as you can see here, that was allowed,” Miller said, “that fix has failed and is collapsing at this time.”
Following the large fire, the former JCPenney structure of the mall had been demolished in December of 2022 due to significant mold and water damage.
In the interim, the mall had used the interior aluminum studding, and then had put tarps on the outside of it to stop water infiltration and wind from going inside until they could make permanent repairs, Miller said.
Miller said that around 11:54 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, 2025, Hanover Area Fire & Rescue firefighters were out conducting driver’s training nearby when they found one of the temporarily repaired exterior walls already collapsing, then witnessed an additional collapse due to high winds.
Several Hanover municipal officials responded to the scene to evaluate the situation, Miller said, including officials from Hanover’s engineering department, the public works director, the borough manager, and officials from Hanover’s third-party commercial building inspector.
In addition, Hanover officials called in the architect involved in previous plans for a permanent fix to the site, which were filed by the mall’s management some time ago but never materialized prior to the building permit expiring.
The temporary fix has been in place for close to three years, with recent high winds appearing to progress the damage. On Monday, the tarps were seen flying loose from the side of the building in the high winds.
“As it stands now, there were many other violations that were found,” Miller said, “a lot of water has infiltrated inside the mall, and there were other serious life safety issues that were found.”
“Condemned” signs posted on each entrance to the property cited the property maintenance code of Hanover Borough, along with chapters of the 2018 International Property Maintenance Code that are adopted by Hanover, including chapter 108.1, for “unsafe structures,” and 109.1, for “Imminent danger.”
“I’m sure there will be many conversations had with the mall between our code enforcement department, the fire department, the engineering department, our solicitor and our borough management,” said Miller.
“Hopefully, they will come up with a plan to do the necessary repairs here and do the right thing,” Miller said.
As officials worked on the scene, public works crews placed danger signs around the property and put up barricades at the JCPenney site.
Businesses respond
While few businesses remain in the once-bustling mall, several remaining local small businesses have found their daily operations upended by the incident.
Only Davita Dialysis and Rural King remained open, thanks to their self-sufficiency from the mall.
In a post, longtime Hanover pizza place Jerry & Sals Pizza shared that the business was closed due to the mall’s condemnation.
Fish & Friends, a local aquarium hobby store that opened in 2024, shared that the store was closed until further notice, as the business has been advised that no customers are allowed into the mall.
“I’m absolutely sick to my stomach having to post this, but the mall will be closed until further notice,” the store’s owner, Blake Stevens, wrote.
In the post, Stevens shared that he continued to have access to the store to care for the hundreds of fish and animals inside, and would be potentially exploring arranging pick-up sales for his customers.
Several businesses have departed the mall in 2025, including the last remaining anchor, Burlington Coat Factory, Nerdtopia, a small business focused on games and pop culture, and Total Control Motorcycle Training.
The mall opened in 1967 as an open-air shopping center known as the North Hanover Shopping Plaza, it was enclosed in 1969 and 1970, becoming the “North Hanover Mall.”
Namdar Realty Group, a privately held commercial real estate firm based in New York, is the current owner of the mall, according to property records.
A man who answered a phone call by the Evening Sun to the mall office advised that the general manager, who they said was the point of contact for media inquiries, was not available at the Hanover mall today due to being at a different property.
Harrison Jones is the Hanover reporter for the Evening Sun. Reach him at [email protected].
This story was updated to add new information, photos and video. Check back later as this is a breaking news story.
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