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Eastland Mall Redevelopment

DigitalSky

By DigitalSky
in Charlotte

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KJHburg
KJHburg

I just reread the article about these tennis and swim center proposals and the Target.  I say don't do either the swimming or tennis and sell part of the land for a Target and use that land sale money

JRCLT
JRCLT

Kayman, I understand your advocacy, but I don’t like your tone toward KJ with how you’re trying to convey those valid important sentiments and issues with the black and brown community in that area.

lit
lit

At this rate, I feel like we're eventually going to circle back around and someone with a bunch of money will be like "this would be the perfect spot for a Mall"

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dxartist Hamlet

dxartist

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Too bad for eastland mall. that place used to be cool place to visit. When I came here over 10 years ago, I would go there before South Park Mall any day, and I lived closer to SP mall. Now, it just doesn't feel safe to go there anymore. I haven't dropped by that place in over 6 years. Too bad too. That skating rink was to coolest attraction.

As for Freedom Mall, it has a much better chance at prosperity than Eastland IMHO.

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Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

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I posted this in the other Eastland thread, but... coming as no surprise, Dillard's has officially announced the closing of their Eastland Mall outlet store.

Oh this is really sad news to hear....I guess it was expected though. And this is probably the final nail in Eastland's coffin.:(

But instead of looking at this whole thing as a huge failure, maybe Eastland's future could be something to look forward to. After all, it is at an unbelievable bargain-basement price these days. A progressive thinking developer could come along and turn things around....of course with lots of thoughtful planning and transportation development.

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Andyc545 Burg

Andyc545

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If the city really wanted to do the Knights ballpark right, they would locate it in the Eastland area instead of downtown, and run a LRT to it. Set it up so the average person could setup a small shop to sell stuff during the games. Would go a long way to rebuild the community over there, and make good transit available too. Make sure it could be expanded in the future. A tourist attraction like a big ferris wheel would go over well too.

I have to say, this is actually quite an interesting and swell idea. I've thought ever since the streetcar line was planned that this would be sort of a "saving grace" for the mall and area but do agree that if things changed significantly enough (which it's almost looking like it needs to do) is to have a high density and prototype (for Charlotte) development that will require high capacity mass transit. Not sure how complicated it would be with the existing infrastructure, but certainly it would be ideal to have it as a secondary extension to the silver line. I guess we'd have to see someone willing to invest significant changes and money into this development, as well as a revolutionary plan to justify bringing expensive lightrail here. Love the ideas of bringing the signature ice skating rink (this is one of the best things about this mall) and a ferris wheel or some amusement activities could do wonders for a family atmosphere. I always thought it would be nice to place something amusement like tall enough and close enough to see uptown, making a connection to it. You can see uptown 14 miles away from Carowinds on some of the taller rides and its always a favorite to make recognition from what seems so far away.

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Raintree21 Town

Raintree21

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I posted this in the other Eastland thread, but... coming as no surprise, Dillard's has officially announced the closing of their Eastland Mall outlet store.

Which is good for the overall redevelopment because the city is exercising its option to buy the Dillards site which will give Charlotte control of 2 of the 5 properties that make up Eastland Mall.

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Charlotteman Burg

Charlotteman

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The discussion here has centered around the mall itself. Perhaps another issue to discuss is the surrounding Eastside neighborhood.

Many interesting ideas re: Eastland Mall's redevelopment have surfaced here on UP. I have to say I like many of them. But what happens if the mall area is redeveloped, but the nearby apartments and rental houses stay the same? The same issues of crime (and perceptions of crime) will remain, putting a crimp in development plans of any type.

I'm not familiar with North Carolina law, but many other states have imminent domain laws which allow properties to be taken/bought from owners to redevelop a large area. Perhaps if a larger geographic area around the mall were to be redeveloped, criminal elements would be forced out, giving new developments a better chance to succeed.

A large ferris wheel sounds marvelous, and I love hearing everyone's ideas about public transportation to a redeveloped Eastland. And of course, the idea of incorporating an ice skating rink seems unanimous. But if people are afraid of having their purse snatched or their wallets taken, all the dazzling ideas we can think up would fall flat. If people feel unsafe they won't go somewhere no matter how terrific it is.

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JayGee Hamlet

JayGee

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Posted

The discussion here has centered around the mall itself. Perhaps another issue to discuss is the surrounding Eastside neighborhood.

Many interesting ideas re: Eastland Mall's redevelopment have surfaced here on UP. I have to say I like many of them. But what happens if the mall area is redeveloped, but the nearby apartments and rental houses stay the same? The same issues of crime (and perceptions of crime) will remain, putting a crimp in development plans of any type.

I'm not familiar with North Carolina law, but many other states have imminent domain laws which allow properties to be taken/bought from owners to redevelop a large area. Perhaps if a larger geographic area around the mall were to be redeveloped, criminal elements would be forced out, giving new developments a better chance to succeed.

A large ferris wheel sounds marvelous, and I love hearing everyone's ideas about public transportation to a redeveloped Eastland. And of course, the idea of incorporating an ice skating rink seems unanimous. But if people are afraid of having their purse snatched or their wallets taken, all the dazzling ideas we can think up would fall flat. If people feel unsafe they won't go somewhere no matter how terrific it is.

True, and it's not just purse snatchings and wallet liftings. A search in the CMPD crime mapping site of crimes within 0.5 miles of Eastland vs. other areas of the city is pretty scary. And, no I'm not talking about Southpark or Ballantyne. I did regular working class type areas: 5000 South Blvd., 9000 S. Tryon, 5000 N. Tryon, etc.

So, yes, it will take more than just redeveloping the mall. The entire area needs an influx of honest, hardworking people who care about their community and will not tolerate the type of activity that is going on there now. And a strong police presence to back them up. Unfortunately, the revolving door legal system in Charlotte is not helping any.

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ontap Whistle-Stop

ontap

Posted
Posted

The discussion here has centered around the mall itself. Perhaps another issue to discuss is the surrounding Eastside neighborhood.

Many interesting ideas re: Eastland Mall's redevelopment have surfaced here on UP. I have to say I like many of them. But what happens if the mall area is redeveloped, but the nearby apartments and rental houses stay the same? The same issues of crime (and perceptions of crime) will remain, putting a crimp in development plans of any type.

I'm not familiar with North Carolina law, but many other states have imminent domain laws which allow properties to be taken/bought from owners to redevelop a large area. Perhaps if a larger geographic area around the mall were to be redeveloped, criminal elements would be forced out, giving new developments a better chance to succeed.

A large ferris wheel sounds marvelous, and I love hearing everyone's ideas about public transportation to a redeveloped Eastland. And of course, the idea of incorporating an ice skating rink seems unanimous. But if people are afraid of having their purse snatched or their wallets taken, all the dazzling ideas we can think up would fall flat. If people feel unsafe they won't go somewhere no matter how terrific it is.

I think that your right on here. The reason the mall is failing is because of it's surroundings. If you look at the surrounding stats: crime is up, teen pregnancy is up, number of rentals is up, income is down, dropout rates increasing..etc. What was once a highly desirable neighborhood is now in transition and will be for the next ten years. It will take the will of the community to change itself and that won't happen until it hits rock bottom which is still another ten years off.

I don't think it makes much sense for the city to start buying the mall properties -- yet. Spending 7 million to secure Belks & Dillards isn't practical when you still don't have any controlling interest in the mall or a use for the property. Currently I don't see a better use for the land than local service oriented stores. The big department stores left because of lack of sales. No big business (retail or office space) is going to relocate to an area in decline.

If the city & county really wants to help this area they should bring services to the community, ie..utility payment center, DSS, welfare services, educational opportunities, rec center, library.... to the mall property. There is a great transit center already in place. Social services should be the next step.

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Raintree21 Town

Raintree21

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The owner of Eastland, Glimcher Realty Trust, held a news conference today saying that they are no longer interested in running the property and will not continue to pay for it. They announced that they will ask the courts to appoint a third party to manage the mall and sell it.

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mallguy Town

mallguy

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Surely this mall is worth something to somebody. The land has value at least.

Agreed. Wonder why Heyward Whichard, the Raleigh-based mall owner, hasn't surfaced yet?

The Sears already is a clearance center, at least on the lower level.

Great anchor line-up for the mall soon: Sears Outlet and Burlington Coat Factory!

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DigitalSky City

DigitalSky

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The owner of Eastland, Glimcher Realty Trust, held a news conference today saying that they are no longer interested in running the property and will not continue to pay for it. They announced that they will ask the courts to appoint a third party to manage the mall and sell it.

That's an interesting yet no so surprising turn of events, It'll be interesting to see the direction that this takes now.

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mallguy Town

mallguy

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I wish I could afford to buy Eastland. It may not be a great place for a regional mall, but there's some value to having that much infrastructure in one place.

Agreed. BTW do you have any info about what generally happens when the owner of a mall like Eastland walks away? I used to do real estate finance and recall a few instances in which office buildings and the like suffered foreclosure, and my quick review of DeadMalls.com shows a few malls that suffered foreclosure and are still operating, but I cannot imagine that the mortgage lien holder for Eastland would continue to operate the mall, unless keeping it open actually results in lower losses than if the mall were closed. I'd assume that the interior of the mall would be shuttered and that Sears and Burlington Coat Factory would remain open, at least for a while?

Also, how do leases for mall in-line stores work- don't they often have a co-tenancy clause requiring X% of the mall's space to be leased for the in-line stores to have to remain open, so once Dillard's closes, many of the ones at Eastland can also probably shut down? That's what happened to McAlister Square in Greenville, SC; it was fully-leased and then its Dillard's closed and was partially re-tenanted without having much of an impact on the stores within the mall, but then once the second anchor, Belk's, closed, most all of the stores within the mall shut down pretty quickly, even though one anchor was still left open.

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