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