Valeria Hoffert: The Woman Who Refused Millions as Berkshire Mall Grew Around Her

For years, developers transformed the farmland surrounding Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, into shopping centers, hotels, restaurants, and office buildings. But one elderly woman refused to sell her 14-acre property, even as commercial development surrounded her. Her name was Valeria E. Hoffert, and her determination to remain on her family property became one of the most remarkable stories of Wyomissing's commercial expansion.

A Farm Surrounded by Progress

By the 1980s, the landscape surrounding Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing had changed dramatically. What had once been open farmland was rapidly becoming one of Berks County's busiest commercial districts.

Shopping centers, restaurants, office buildings, and hotels were spreading across the area along Berkshire Boulevard, Woodland Road, and Paper Mill Road. Developers were purchasing the remaining undeveloped parcels, hoping to capitalize on the growing popularity of Berkshire Mall and the surrounding retail corridor.

Yet, amid the commercial expansion, one property remained remarkably unchanged.

At the corner of Woodland Road and Paper Mill Road stood a 14-acre farm belonging to Valeria E. Hoffert, a retired Reading High School history teacher.

Hoffert had lived on the property since 1930, long before the surrounding land became prime commercial real estate. Her property represented one of the last surviving pieces of the area's agricultural past.

To developers, those 14 acres represented an extraordinary business opportunity.

To Hoffert, they represented home.

And for years, she made it abundantly clear that she had no intention of leaving.

The Woman Who Would Not Budge

In its February 1, 1987, edition, the Reading Eagle published a feature by reporter Ray Koehler titled "Holdout has a simple plot: maintain her roots."

The article described Hoffert, then 87 years old, as a single woman who had repeatedly turned down real estate developers interested in purchasing her property.

Her land was exceptionally valuable.

According to the newspaper, nearby acreage was selling for approximately $125,000 an acre, making her property worth a considerable sum even before accounting for its desirable location.

At the time, commercial development had already surrounded much of the farm.

To the east stood the Sheraton Berkshire Inn. To the north was the Hampton Inn. Nearby office buildings housed companies including IBM and Travelers Insurance.

Additional commercial development was also taking shape along the surrounding roads.

One by one, the remaining undeveloped tracts disappeared beneath new construction.

But Hoffert stayed.

Her resistance was so well known that developers and borough officials understood that obtaining the property would be no simple matter.

In fact, an attorney representing her reported that she had turned down offers exceeding what nearby properties had commanded.

The issue was not simply money.

For Hoffert, the land was part of her life, her independence, and her identity.

Even a Free House Could Not Persuade Her

Perhaps the most remarkable part of Hoffert's story was the lengths developers were willing to go to obtain her property.

Murray H. Goodman, a prominent businessman and former owner of Berkshire Mall, was among those who attempted to persuade her to sell.

Goodman understood the enormous commercial value of the land and reportedly offered Hoffert an extraordinary arrangement.

If she agreed to sell, he would build her virtually any house she desired on the property and allow her to live there for the remainder of her life.

In other words, she could receive the financial benefits of selling while retaining a lifetime home on the land.

She refused.

The 1987 newspaper account revealed that even public improvements were complicated by Hoffert's determination to preserve her property.

As part of a project to widen a nearby commercial avenue to five lanes, borough officials needed a small strip of her land. She reportedly declined to surrender even the approximately five-foot-wide section needed for the improvement.

Her unwillingness to part with the land had become a familiar topic among those involved in Wyomissing's development.

Yet, despite the frustrations of developers, she also earned considerable respect.

Goodman acknowledged that she was a woman who knew what she wanted and intended to remain where she had lived for much of her life.

More Than a Stubborn Landowner

Behind the widely publicized real estate dispute was a woman whose life had been devoted to education.

Valeria E. Hoffert was born in Brecknock Township in 1899, the daughter of Harvey M. Hoffert and Emeline K. (Sweitzer) Hoffert.

She graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1922 and subsequently earned a master's degree in history from New York University.

Hoffert began teaching at Reading High School in 1924, where she became a social studies and history instructor. She continued teaching through the school's transitions and changes over the following decades.

She retired in 1962, completing approximately 38 years of service as an educator.

Former students remembered her as a demanding but respected teacher.

In an August 18, 1993, Reading Eagle article, former student Mark L. Brown, a school board director, recalled that Hoffert was particularly reserved and serious in the classroom.

He described her as a very demure teacher, adding that although she seldom displayed much humor, she occasionally surprised her students.

Her life outside the classroom was similarly private.

Hoffert never married and had no children. She lived for decades on her Wyomissing property, enjoying the quiet country atmosphere that increasingly disappeared around her.

She was also a member of Kissinger's Lutheran Church in Wyomissing.

By the time she became the subject of newspaper features in the 1980s, she was already well into retirement.

Her farm was more than an investment. It was the place where she had spent most of her adult life.

Watching the Countryside Disappear

Hoffert's opposition to selling was closely tied to the transformation of the surrounding landscape.

When she moved onto the property around 1930, the Berkshire Mall did not exist. The area was largely rural, with farms and open fields occupying land that would eventually become one of the county's major shopping destinations.

During the following decades, development advanced steadily westward from Reading.

Berkshire Mall opened in 1970, accelerating commercial investment throughout the area.

By the 1980s, Hoffert's farm had become something of an island surrounded by businesses.

In the 1987 article, Wyomissing Borough Manager Alfred Drayovitch explained that the property was desirable because commercial activity was already established around it.

The land offered developers an opportunity to construct a substantial shopping center in an already thriving retail district.

Hoffert, however, viewed the changes differently.

The traffic, commercial buildings, and disappearing farmland represented the loss of the rural atmosphere she had known.

Her eventual change of heart would come only after years of witnessing that transformation.

The End of the Holdout: A $3.2 Million Sale

After years of resistance, Hoffert finally agreed to sell.

On June 4, 1993, the Reading Eagle announced that Kmart Corporation had purchased her 14-acre property for approximately $3.2 million.

The headline proclaimed:

"Kmart purchases 14-acre Hoffert tract"

The newspaper reported that the transaction came after several years of negotiations and numerous personal commitments to keep the land.

Attorney Charles K. Derr, who represented Hoffert, explained that several factors had contributed to her decision.

Among them was the steadily changing character of the neighborhood.

The once-peaceful farm no longer enjoyed the quiet country setting that had made it so attractive decades earlier.

Derr summarized the situation by explaining that the area was no longer the country atmosphere Hoffert remembered.

By that point, she had already moved away from the farmhouse.

The August 1993 newspaper account reported that Hoffert left her longtime home in 1989 and moved into a retirement and nursing complex in Wyomissing.

Her departure marked an important turning point.

For years, she had resisted selling because she wanted to remain on her land for the rest of her life.

Once she no longer lived there, the circumstances had changed.

The property was purchased for a planned Builders Square home-improvement store, a Kmart subsidiary.

Preliminary plans called for a roughly 90,000-square-foot retail building, making the site one of the largest remaining commercial development opportunities near Berkshire Mall.

The transaction represented the end of a lengthy standoff between one determined landowner and the developers who had transformed the surrounding landscape.

She Died Just One Month After Selling

The timing of the sale made Hoffert's story especially poignant.

On July 25, 1993, just weeks after the sale was announced, Valeria E. Hoffert died at Reading Hospital.

She was 93 years old.

Her obituary appeared in the July 26, 1993, Reading Eagle.

For decades, she had resisted offers to purchase her land, insisting that she intended to remain connected to the property throughout her lifetime.

Ultimately, she completed the sale shortly before her death.

An August 18 newspaper account reflected on the extraordinary circumstances, noting that she had spent nearly a lifetime in the home and surrendered the property only a month before she died.

What had appeared to be a straightforward commercial real estate transaction now took on a more personal meaning.

It represented the closing chapter of a life closely connected to the old Wyomissing landscape.

But the story did not end with her death.

A Fortune Left to Education

Hoffert's determination to protect her property had attracted considerable attention over the years.

What surprised many people after her death was what she intended to do with her money.

Rather than leaving her substantial estate entirely to relatives, she directed much of her fortune toward education and charitable institutions.

Her estate was valued at approximately $4 million.

On August 18, 1993, the Reading Eagle reported that Hoffert had left between $800,000 and $1 million to the Reading School District.

The money was designated for scholarships benefiting students pursuing teaching careers.

The gift reflected the priorities of a woman who had devoted nearly four decades to teaching.

Reading School District Superintendent Dr. James S. Goodhart welcomed the bequest, describing it as a significant contribution to the district.

The money would allow future generations of students to pursue careers in education, extending Hoffert's influence far beyond her own classroom.

The generosity was particularly noteworthy because Hoffert had lived a relatively private and modest life.

Although the commercial value of her property had made her wealthy, she had never been especially interested in the luxurious lifestyle associated with that wealth.

Her personal decisions suggested that her fortune was ultimately intended to accomplish something more lasting.

Penn State Receives a Major Gift

Hoffert's generosity also extended to Pennsylvania State University, where she had graduated in 1922.

On September 23, 1993, the Reading Eagle reported that she had left approximately $800,000 to Penn State's Berks Campus.

The gift represented 20 percent of her estate.

The university planned to divide the money between two purposes.

One half would establish a memorial scholarship fund named for Hoffert, providing financial assistance to deserving undergraduate students.

The other half would support an endowment for capital improvements, helping enhance campus buildings, facilities, and grounds.

Her will also included approximately $600,000 for the Class of 1922 Memorial Scholarship Fund at Penn State.

A later Penn State account described her total university bequest as approximately $1.4 million.

Additional charitable beneficiaries included Presbyterian Medical Center in Philadelphia and Kissinger's Lutheran Church in Wyomissing.

Her estate thus benefited schools, students, healthcare, and the church community with which she had been associated.

Ironically, the land that developers had spent years trying to acquire helped generate resources that would support educational and charitable institutions long after her death.

From the Hoffert Farm to Woodmill Commons

Although Kmart originally purchased Hoffert's property for a Builders Square home-improvement store, the development plans evolved substantially in the years following her death.

By the mid-1990s, the site was being considered for a new retail complex known as Woodmill Commons.

Builders Square had encountered corporate difficulties, and the original plan was abandoned.

In January 1996, developers proposed a new shopping center on the former Hoffert property, this time anchored by OfficeMax and Toys "R" Us.

The project required significant traffic improvements in the already congested Berkshire Mall corridor.

Plans included widening Paper Mill Road and Woodland Road, modifying access to the Warren Street Bypass, and changing entrance and exit arrangements around Berkshire Mall.

The area that Hoffert had once protected from development was now becoming an integral part of Wyomissing's expanding commercial infrastructure.

On December 17, 1996, the Reading Eagle announced that excavation for Woodmill Commons had begun.

The planned shopping center would occupy the same approximately 14-acre tract that Hoffert had refused to sell for so many years.

The proposed tenants included Borders Books & Music, OfficeMax, Toys "R" Us, and Kids "R" Us.

By 1997, the former farm was almost unrecognizable.

The transformation of the Hoffert property

Woodmill Commons Opens in 1997

The new shopping center gradually opened throughout 1997.

On August 14, OfficeMax opened its new TriMax Super Center at Woodmill Commons. The following day's Reading Eagle featured a photograph of employee Yolanda Silva welcoming customer Gene Swanson into the new store.

The 25,000-square-foot OfficeMax featured thousands of office products, along with furniture, computers, business machines, and printing services.

Borders Books & Music followed on September 6, 1997.

The 25,000-square-foot store offered more than 200,000 books, music recordings, periodicals, and videos. It also featured a café, author appearances, children's events, and other activities.

The Borders opening was a particularly visible example of how the former farmland had been transformed into a regional shopping destination.

During October 1997, Toys "R" Us began welcoming customers and advertised its new Woodmill Commons location across from Berkshire Mall.

A large grand-opening promotion appeared in the October 24 newspaper, featuring Geoffrey the Giraffe and other familiar children's characters.

By the end of 1997, the property was no longer an isolated farm surrounded by commercial development.

It had become part of that development.

The transformation was complete.

Remembering the Woman Behind the Shopping Center

For shoppers who visited Woodmill Commons during the late 1990s and afterward, there was little visible evidence of the farm that had occupied the property for decades.

Customers entering Borders, OfficeMax, or Toys "R" Us might never have known about the elderly former schoolteacher who had once owned the entire tract.

They might never have imagined that the parking lots and commercial buildings occupied land that developers had struggled for years to purchase.

And they probably would not have known that Hoffert had once been offered the opportunity to have a new home built for her, free of charge for the rest of her life, simply to persuade her to sell.

The story of Valeria Hoffert is about more than a woman who refused to sell valuable land.

It reflects a period when Wyomissing was undergoing an extraordinary transformation from a community with substantial open farmland into a major commercial center.

It also offers a reminder that progress, as viewed by developers and shoppers, did not always look the same to those who had lived on the land for generations.

Hoffert's refusal was not necessarily opposition to every form of development. It was a determination to maintain control over her own home and property.

Ultimately, she chose to sell when her circumstances changed.

And while the farm disappeared, her financial legacy continued through scholarships and educational endowments that benefited students who would never have the opportunity to meet her.

In an unexpected way, her greatest contribution came after the lengthy real estate battle had ended.

A Legacy Larger Than Fourteen Acres

Valeria E. Hoffert spent much of her life teaching history.

Yet, through her determination to preserve her home, she became part of Wyomissing's history herself.

For more than a decade, the small farm at Berkshire Boulevard and Paper Mill Road was a visible reminder of the area's agricultural past.

Commercial development surrounded it, but the elderly teacher refused to surrender the land simply because others wanted it.

When she finally sold the property for $3.2 million in 1993, the transaction helped pave the way for Woodmill Commons.

But the proceeds also formed part of a substantial estate that benefited education and charitable institutions.

Today, the history of that commercial property cannot be fully appreciated without remembering the woman who held onto it for so long.

Before Woodmill Commons, before Borders, OfficeMax, and Toys "R" Us, there was the Hoffert farm—and one determined woman who refused to sell until she was ready.

Historical Sources

The article is based primarily on the newspaper clippings included in your archive:

• Reading Eagle, February 1, 1987 — "Holdout has a simple plot: maintain her roots," by Ray Koehler.
• Reading Eagle, June 4, 1993 — "Kmart purchases 14-acre Hoffert tract," by Sue Wilson.
• Reading Eagle, July 26, 1993 — Obituary of Valeria E. Hoffert.
• Reading Eagle, August 18, 1993 — "Estate enriches district," by Carl W. Brown Jr.
• Reading Eagle, September 23, 1993 — "$800,000 gift willed to PSU."
• Reading Eagle, January 3, 1996 — "Traffic changes proposed for new mall."
• Reading Eagle, December 17, 1996 — "Woodmill Commons excavation begins."
• Reading Eagle, August 6 and August 15, 1997 — Borders and OfficeMax openings.
• Reading Eagle, October 4, October 8, and October 24, 1997 — Woodmill Commons retail development and Toys "R" Us opening.
• Penn State historical material documenting Hoffert's university bequest.

Editorial note: The 1987 newspaper feature and subsequent 1993 articles provide the strongest firsthand historical account. Some figures for Hoffert's estate were preliminary when originally reported; the Penn State material provides later clarification of the university's total bequest.