Repurposing Sears and other retail sites

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Originally Posted by madRiver
I think they should simply convert to self storage that is climate controlled.maybe for boats too.


The tall ceiling and non forklift friendly landscape makes retired mall a terrible climate controlled storage.
 
Eventually the owners (usually investor groups) will realize that they are sitting on assets with a market value far below book that has expenses without any rental income. Then they will bite the bullet with a big loss to their portfolio and sell to someone who will repurpose the asset.

Some of these investors can not sell at current market prices as they have been able to get away with holding the real estate on their books at an inflated value with creative accounting that can pass muster sometimes.

Some of these properties will sit vacant for a decade or more.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Malls are changing into lifestyle centers. A mix of retail, condo and apartments plus the addition of healthcare and fitness facilities.


There is an example of one that mixes mid to high-end retail, high-end condos and a free shuttle to the local BART station(well, subsidized by a tax the retailers imposed on themselves) near where I live.

A group of Chinese investors bought out a dead mall near my parents and it will be redeveloped into new retail - a Walmart and 99 Ranch Market(the Asian Safeway/Vons) will anchor the center and there will be housing.
 
Originally Posted by nthach
Originally Posted by PimTac
Malls are changing into lifestyle centers. A mix of retail, condo and apartments plus the addition of healthcare and fitness facilities.


There is an example of one that mixes mid to high-end retail, high-end condos and a free shuttle to the local BART station(well, subsidized by a tax the retailers imposed on themselves) near where I live.

A group of Chinese investors bought out a dead mall near my parents and it will be redeveloped into new retail - a Walmart and 99 Ranch Market(the Asian Safeway/Vons) will anchor the center and there will be housing.




Having spent considerable time in Asia, I've seen how malls can really flourish with that concept. They are not just for retail. I have been in large malls complete with hotels and condos. Along with a mix of retail and eating outlets they also have medical and dental facilities. And fitness centers. Play areas for kids and young adults. Movie theaters, and other services like travel. Tie it in either close to or directly with a train or subway really makes them convenient.

The malls have to adapt from the current strategy. Depending on the mall, the existing Sears store may or may not be a feasible option for revamping.

Malls may have to be centrally planned better. Having dozens of clothing stores that all look similar except for the name on the door is not a good idea. Having such stores located close to each other creates a dead zone in a mall.
 
These days mall definitely has to anchor to "something" residential or else. They call these "mixed used" properties.

A new trend I've seen in Asia is the residential towers have the entrance inside the mall instead of a separate path around the mall. This way the mall will have a guaranteed traffic, and won't turn into a slum / safety hazard that drag down the residential tower's value.

Another important note is the mall has to be owned by a single entity (that understand the importance of upkeep and merchant tenant branding and selection), to avoid disagreement in maintenance and upgrade, that deteriorate a good mall into a rundown mall with poorly run businesses.
 
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That is interesting. I've seen one sort of example of this here in Regina, with a condo tower (insofar as we have towers in Regina) is "surrounded" by a strip mall, with a few others adjacent, too, and some shops on the ground floor.
 
The Sears that closed near me is still vacant.

There are 3 Kmarts that closed near me. One was turned into a mega-church, one is now a health club, and the third was split up with about half of it now being an Auto Zone "hub" location that's open 24 hours and the rest is several smaller retail spaces.

There's a Best Buy that closed and now has construction going on, it looks like they are dividing it up into smaller retail spaces.

A couple Walmarts in the area couldn't expand at their existing locations, so they closed them and replaced them with supercenters at different locations. not sure what's going on with those closed stores.

Also a Target that closed and moved to a Super Target just down the road, That one is now a furniture store.
 
Originally Posted by SeaJay
Eventually the owners (usually investor groups) will realize that they are sitting on assets with a market value far below book that has expenses without any rental income. Then they will bite the bullet with a big loss to their portfolio and sell to someone who will repurpose the asset.

Some of these investors can not sell at current market prices as they have been able to get away with holding the real estate on their books at an inflated value with creative accounting that can pass muster sometimes.

Some of these properties will sit vacant for a decade or more.


Reminds me of The Wiz and Filene's Basement
 
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