Reprint from NY Times
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Inside the gleaming mall here on the Sunday before Christmas, just one thing was missing: shoppers.
The upbeat music of “Jingle Bell Rock” bounced off the tiles, and the smell of teriyaki chicken drifted from the food court, but only a handful of stores were open at the sprawling enclosed shopping center. A few visitors walked down the long hallways and peered through locked metal gates into vacant spaces once home to retailers like H&M, Wet Seal and Kay Jewelers.
Across America, the Dead Malls Are Growing
“It’s depressing,” Jill Kalata, 46, said as she tried on a few of the last sneakers for sale at the Athlete’s Foot, scheduled to close in a few weeks. “This place used to be packed. And Christmas, the lines were out the door. Now I’m surprised anything is still open.”
To read the complete article, click here
Blot Out Blight: 3 Ways to Turn Around a Vacant Lot
/in UncategorizedReprinted from www.oportunityspace.org
It’s hard to start from square one, so here are 3 vacant lot transformations that have been successful for individuals and groups in the OpportunitySpace sphere to get you thinking about your own project.
To read the entire article, click here
Downtown Akron (Ohio) Partnership seeks ‘pop-up’ retailers to fill vacant storefronts
/in UncategorizedReprinted from Ohio.Com
Downtown Akron has its share of vacant storefronts, and a new effort aims to fill some of them with temporary “pop-up” shops.
The nonprofit Downtown Akron Partnership is launching its “pop-up retail” program, seeking business owners and entrepreneurs who will be matched with downtown property owners
who have empty first-floor storefront space.
Leases will run for six months.
To read the entire article, click here
Store Closings Heavily Impact Apparel Sector
/in UncategorizedReprinted from National Real Estate Investor
On Feb. 4, women’s clothing retailer Cache filed for Chapter 11. Through the bankruptcy, the chain plans to renegotiate leases and close a portion of its 218 stores. Cache’s announcement is the latest in a lengthy list of store closings announcements so far this year. Just a few days ago, Jones New York announced it plans to shutter 127 outlet stores and discontinue wholesale operations. And Kate Spade told the Wall Street Journal it would close its Saturday brand and Jack Spade stores, 28 in total.
Retail store closing
According to ICSC, about 44 percent of store closings occur during the first quarter every year. In 2014, for example, 80 percent of the year’s total closings were announced during the first two quarters.
To read the entire article, click here
The Economics (and Nostalgia) of Dead Malls
/in UncategorizedReprint from NY Times
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Inside the gleaming mall here on the Sunday before Christmas, just one thing was missing: shoppers.
The upbeat music of “Jingle Bell Rock” bounced off the tiles, and the smell of teriyaki chicken drifted from the food court, but only a handful of stores were open at the sprawling enclosed shopping center. A few visitors walked down the long hallways and peered through locked metal gates into vacant spaces once home to retailers like H&M, Wet Seal and Kay Jewelers.
Across America, the Dead Malls Are Growing
“It’s depressing,” Jill Kalata, 46, said as she tried on a few of the last sneakers for sale at the Athlete’s Foot, scheduled to close in a few weeks. “This place used to be packed. And Christmas, the lines were out the door. Now I’m surprised anything is still open.”
To read the complete article, click here
City looking at hiking taxes on vacant properties
/in UncategorizedReprinted from ctpost.com
The RemGrit factory buildings facing Helen Street between Barnum Avenue and Grant Street on Bridgeport’s West Side on Tuesday, November 18, 2014. The partially demolished complex of buildings has suffered numerous fires in recent years. Photo: Brian A. Pounds
BRIDGEPORT — Anyone familiar with the abandoned manufacturing plants and vacant lots scarring Connecticut’s largest city has shared the same thought: Just get rid of the blight and build something already!
City officials are considering taxing at least some of those underused properties at a higher rate to compel owners to stop “land-hoarding” and either get more aggressive about redevelopment, or sell to someone who is.
To read the complete article, click here
Best Year End Budget Practices in Vacant Building Maintenance
/in UncategorizedMany building owners and property managers forget about winterizing a building until they are scraping snow off of their car windshield. This might be too late, as pipes may have frozen. Similarly, cold weather conditions may not permit the proper repair of critical building components. Consider addressing these seasonal activities so you do not have surprises in the dead of winter. Don’t forget about snow removal as well.
Also, consider using your budgeted dollars on property improvements that could help your off-line units sell or lease faster. Here’s a list of ideas to help preserve and prepare property for its next intended use:
Use the remaining weeks of 2014 to your advantage and invest in your best asset. Commercial Asset Preservation provides national property maintenance, inspection and day porter services. To put them on your team, contact Marc at insulm@commercialpreservation.com or call (800) 445-0640.
13 ‘Ghost Malls’ from Around the World
/in UncategorizedWhy do malls die? Sometimes it’s due to outmoded business models. Other times, it’s caused by economic downturn or extreme changes in demographics or fashions. Or grandiose ideas of development that can’t possibly be realized. Or bad urban planning. Or even, say some critics, because American culture is, if not dying, then at least evolving dramatically.
Whatever the reason, malls in many parts of America and throughout the world, are being left empty and decaying, and whether they are eventually demolished or left to rot until the last beam falls, abandoned malls are haunting, romantic places that once teemed with retail commerce, family life and teenage intrigue, all happening at once amidst the trappings of popular culture.
To see the rest of the article and photos click here.
Lindsay Honda turning old Scarborough Mall into massive dealership
/in UncategorizedReprinted from Columbus Business First
The east-side dealership is renovating the old Scarborough Mall off Brice Road into what will become a 15-acre, 150,000-square-foot home for the state’s top Honda dealer, which sold more than 4,800 new Hondas in 2013.
“We needed a facility to handle that (volume),” Steve Lindsay told me.
The new building is going to handle that and then some. The current dealership, just across Scarborough Boulevard from the mall, is a comparatively tiny 20,000 square feet.
There will be 1,000 cars on the lot and as many as 150 cars inside the building, with 40 of those in the showroom.
To Read the entire article click here
Judge has moved fast to clear up hard nuisance properties cases
/in UncategorizedFranklin County Environmental Judge Dan Hawkins sent the owner of a vacant, blighted motel to jail two weeks ago.
Fu Ih Chu had missed his court-ordered deadline to demolish the Motel One on the East Side.
To read the entire article click here
Empty big boxes are finding new purposes in Minnesota
/in Uncategorized(Reprinted from StarTribune Business)
The ubiquitous big-box concept has reached middle age, but many of the stores never had much of a life.
Bankruptcies, downsizing and changing needs among retailers resulted in thousands of closures nationwide. But fortunately, some of these dormant spaces have entered inventive second acts, with Minnesota now home to some of the more unusual examples of big-box reuse.
To read the rest of the article click here.