What's Become of the Mall?

By Sofia Galadza

The situation is all too familiar. A neighborhood shopping mall, perhaps once the only mall in the area, loses tenants, revenue, and consumer. The mall clings for life, though, becoming a shelter for senior citizen "mall walkers" and die-hard retailers. But what happens when the mall finally dies?

The Congress for New Urbanism (CNU) is a San Francisco-based organization seeking to reform all aspects of real estate development. In 2001, in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers, it published the study "Greyfields Into Goldfields." Greyfield malls, better known as dead malls, are retail properties requiring significant public and private-sector intervention. Unlike brownfields (contaminated urban development sites) and greenfields (undeveloped rural land), greyfields are developed properties that are physically and economically ready for a major redevelopment. They estimate there are about 140 regional malls that are greyfields, with another 200-250 on their way. Together, that's about 18 percent of all regional malls.

There's no single reason why a mall dies. It can be attributed to the box store "power centers," newly revived downtown areas, or upscale shopping centers, often conveniently situated near freeways. Less apparent, at least from an architectural standpoint, are consumers' buying patterns, their valuing time, shopping on the internet, and entertainment expectations.

If greyfields are ripe for redevelopment, the task is determining exactly what must be done. Recent projects indicate that a mall can be reinvented as a multi-use complex that includes apartments, offices, as well as retail spaces; government buildings; and classroom facilities. In 2003, the L.A. Forum for Architecture and Urban Design held a Dead Malls competition, and among the redevelopment proposals were a prison, a hockey arena for nearby schools, and a zoo.

But change doesn't necessarily mean the dead mall will be a success in its new form. The L.A. Forum required entrants to examine the root of the problem in the building they planned to reinvent. What are the fundamental flaws? What is the role of the site? In addition, they need to address if the mall is rotten to its core, or just in need of a few repairs. Will the operation be cosmetic, structural, or both? Is retailing still an important function? While the building failed as a mall, there is hope. CNU insists there are possible advantages for reuse, and it's possible to integrate them into neighborhood contexts.

Victor Dover, an architect and principle-in-charge at Dover, Kohl & Partners in Coral Gables, Fla., is also a charter member of CNU. He has extensive experience converting obsolete malls into mixed-use town centers. "Sometimes a mall goes out of business because it has lost its economic reason for being," he says. "But almost every community needs something. Stop thinking about these as failed shopping center properties and start thinking about them as potential mixed-use properties.

One success story is the run-down Eastmont Mall in Oakland, Calif. The reason for this dead mall was simple. In the 1970s and 1980s, the mall happened to be in an area of Oakland where drug trade activity was rampant. Shoppers were afraid to go to the area, and sales decreased dramatically. Then in 1998, led by Michael Willis Architects (MWA), the first of four phases got underway to convert the mall into a police precinct and the Alameda County Adult & Aging Services center.

The benefit of working with the shell of a shopping mall, MWA principal Carlton Smith recalls, was that retail spaces have higher ceilings (at least 15 ?ft). The challenge: that they're windowless retail spaces. So while Smith achieved an airy, comfortable interior, he was challenged with maximizing natural daylight. So in areas free of existing skylights or entryways, Smith used less-harsh, indirect lighting.

But do you feel like you're in a mall? Modifications might not hide hints of the structure's past life. The surrounding parking lot, for example, is full every day, just as it might have been during the holiday shopping season. But inside the building, there's much opportunity to make aesthetic and structural changes. Smith introduced curvilinear forms, textures, and painted drywall to the space. The overriding principle in designing the social services area, which caters to welfare recipients, was to create an inspiring work environment. In California, where individuals can only receive welfare support for a limited time, social services are geared toward training and job placement. In this space, Smith says, they're providing something comparable to where they could work. "It's a space to inspire, so they can aspire to working in this sort of environment."

The mall space was especially conducive to the Aging Services center. Designed within a shell of a former department store, the 55,000-sq. ft. facility provides offices, conference space, and interview rooms for workers providing services to the elderly. The added bonus is that the space was an empty slate to be customized to suit very specialized needs. The design is free of barriers, and features electronically operated doors and bamboo wood flooring, which is both wheelchair-friendly and soothing. Sunlight floods a courtyard, created with an operable skylight that can be sheltered during inclement weather.

Another benefit of building in a mall is accessibility. Part of the reason the City of Oakland selected this location for the Eastmont Police Precinct was to provide community policing and improved visibility, and provide greater accessibility to the residents of Oakland's neighborhoods. Accessing shopping malls can also be made easier if the mall was a public transportation hub. In the case of the Eastmont Mall, there was no existing transit station. However, the complex now includes a transit area for the workers and visitors.

CNU insists dead malls can reverse urban sprawl. Malls helped encourage the growth of car culture. They were surrounded by parking lots, not neighborhoods. But now, these greyfields can present an opportunity to create neighborhood-like spaces among suburbs and gap-toothed cities. The challenge: finding appropriate solutions, making ingenious modifications, and hoping that this time around, the new site will be a financial, and civic, success.