Bethlehem's Westgate Mall getting more new stores, major overhaul

In addition to a new trampoline park, Bethlehem's Westgate Mall is getting a $5 million upgrade and there's strong interest in key vacant storefronts.

The management at the Schoenersville Road mall is working with new tenants for the former Beef House, Dempsey's American Kitchen and 7-Eleven, said Karen Pittari, the vice president of marketing for Westgate Mall Management.

"We have a high demand from the retailers for the available space," she said Wednesday.

RELATED: Indoor trampoline park coming to Bethlehem's Westgate Mall

Sky Zone Trampoline Park announced earlier this week that it will be opening a location within the mall this winter. The interior renovations for the trampoline park along with a major façade upgrade total $5 million, Pittari said.

City View Capital bought the mall two years ago and Westgate Mall Management, headed by Mark Pepitone, runs it. It had been owned for 40 years by Harold Campbell – who built the mall in 1973 – and later the Harold S. Campbell Foundation.

"We're really looking forward to the future of Westgate Mall," Pittari said.

The mall will let the new tenants announce plans then they're ready, as Sky Zone did, Pittari said.

The renovation work started this week and is expected to last six-to-eight months. The façade overhaul includes a new roof and new towers in gray and cream tones.

With the opening of Sky Zone and the other planned new businesses, the mall will be 90 percent full, Pittari said. Hawk Music recently moved next to Bon-Ton to make way for the trampoline park, which will also be displacing Fashion Nails to a new location.

Hawk Music Center co-owner Phil Hawk said he's excited about his store's new larger location and the other changes in the mall, as well.

"I think it'll all be great for the mall – it's been needed for a long while," said Hawk, whose father, Bill, opened the store in 1973. "There is a future for the mall and we're excited for it."

Bethlehem officials also are encouraged by the façade upgrades and trampoline park lease, Community and Economic Development Director Alicia Karner said.

"The current owner is enthusiastic about the possibilities and we're supportive of the investment he's making," she said.

The trampoline park, with its party rooms, should create a lot of business for fellow mall tenant Westgate Pizza and could create new customers for Amateur Athlete Skate Shop and Hawk Music Center, as well, Karner said.

Source: Lehigh Valley Live