With the Providence Place mall recently entering receivership — essentially state-level bankruptcy — the future of the carpeted shopping center is in limbo.
The enormous Providence Place mall building was built roughly 25 years ago, but today mall tenants are dwindling. GoLocalProv columnist and former Parks Director for Providence Bob McMahon has already suggested a few new potential uses for the building: housing, college dormitory or classroom spaces, or to make it the new home of the city and state archives.
While Providence Place has its own unique footprint, challenges, and context, the mall is not alone in its fiscal struggles. Malls have shuttered throughout the country — leaving enormous properties vacant. Regulatory and financial obstacles can make tackling these enormous projects extremely difficult. But still, some former malls have been converted into new, mixed-use facilities.
Here are five types of mall conversions that have occurred or are underway across America, bringing new and surprising uses to these former retail spaces. None of these projects will map perfectly onto Providence Place or its future, but they may offer a glimpse into creative solutions for what malls could become.
Housing and Mixed-Use
Amid a nationwide housing crisis, some cities have seen malls transformed into apartments, especially since retail isn’t what it used to be. Several malls throughout the country are adding housing instead of filling empty retail space. While some of these developments entail demolishing the building and constructing apartments on the lot, some have also found innovative ways to repurpose the existing structure.
The Grand Avenue Mall in Downtown Milwaukee has been working to reinvent itself — while maintaining a retail section, the property now includes several housing options and a market hall. The redevelopment includes the Plankinton Clover, a high-end apartment community with amenities including an Indoor Doggy Wellness Area, fitness center, and a business center. The building was formerly an arcade within Grand Avenue Mall. Rebranding as “The Avenue,” the former mall is striving to become a mixed-use neighborhood space with breweries, event spaces, entertainment, and retail.
Three malls in Phoenix, Arizona are also creating thousands of units of housing. La Placita Cinco, a former strip mall in Santa Ana, California, has been converted into 51 apartments targeted at those making 30%-60% of the Area Median Income (AMI). The project cost $38.3 million.
Green Space
In Meriden, Connecticut, the site of a former shopping mall (and later on, a strip mall) has been replaced with a 14-acre green space. The project includes a variety of mixed-use buildings, including the resurfacing of a stream that had been covered by the mall years before.
Meriden Green includes urban trails, open green spaces, and an amphitheater.
Senior Living Centers
PathStone Skyview Park Apartments has 157 units of affordable housing targeted at seniors. Located in Irondequoit, New York, the development was completed in 2021. The 157,000-square-foot development includes “a beautiful senior citizens center, community rooms, fitness center, library and large central gathering lounge, and enclosed parking on the lower level of the new building” in addition to greenspaces. “Half of the units are reserved for seniors at risk of homelessness, who can receive on-site supportive services,” Vox reported.
The building was formerly a Sears department store and now caters to tenants 55 and older.
A similar conversion project is in the works in Aurora, Illinois, with a completion date set for 2025. Sophia at Fox Valley will be a luxury senior living community.
Education
Grand Rapids Community College (GRCC) transformed a former JCPenney department store into classroom and laboratory spaces. The project was completed in 2021, and the enormous interior includes “nine classrooms, four computer labs and five unique labs for biology, chemistry, electronics, automation, welding and machine tooling, [and] housing programs for students working toward an associate degree or a career-focused certificate,” according to GRCC.
The 52,000-square-foot facility cost $12 million to convert.
Medical Uses
The Landmark Mall in Alexandria, Virginia was approved for redevelopment in 2021. The health organization Inova plans to open a hospital and medical campus on the four million square feet of the former mall site. The project is estimated to clock in at $1 billion dollars, and construction broke ground in September of this year.
The facility is proposed to include an emergency room, a trauma center, and a cancer center. Inova currently estimates that the campus will open in 2028. Permitting, rezoning, and other approvals have already taken a number of years.
By Katy Pickens / Planning & Preservation Writer / kpickens@ppsri.org