A sense of purpose

As it's Independence Day today, we shift our focus stateside, and look at the creative ways some of the huge shopping malls in America have been repurposed.

Like other countries, the US has seen a big change in shopping habits, with physical retail being adversely affected by the rise in e-commerce and the pandemic. Following the space race in the 1980s/90s there are now vast shopping malls littered throughout the country which are overrun with vacant units or closed all together. In 2020 CNBC reported that 25% of US malls were set to shut down over the next 5 years. It has taken some creative thinking to repurpose retail space and convert 'dead' malls into new destinations.

Community and Education
Converting existing retail outlets into much-desired community space is seen as a cost-effective way of improving community facilities. Vacant strip centres, or retail parks, have rapidly become home to several schools and education facilities. An example of this is the iLead Academy between Louisville and Cincinnati. Labelling itself as a 'revolutionary high school', it occupies a large unit in a retail park and its adjacencies include a bank, car dealership and Walmart superstore.

Similarly, 32,000 sq. ft. of space in the Highland Mall in Austin, Texas, previously occupied by J.C Penney, has been converted by Austin Community College into an open plan learning lab with shared workstations as a place for students to take classes and book study rooms. The College intends to develop the rest of the mall into academic hubs, office space and retail shops.

Healthcare is another alternative for repurposing retail space. The 1m sq. ft. Hickory Hollow Mall is making a transition into a medical facility. Vanderbilt University Medical Center, which took over the mall in March 2022, is not new to converting retail space to medical centres having turned One Hundred Oaks in Nashville (seen above) into 22 speciality clinics. A total of 32 malls across America have moved to healthcare services, one-third of which have been announced since the start of the pandemic.

Offices
Using the existing vast infrastructure of shopping malls to create workplace campuses from retail space is being adopted by large organisations across the country. In Cary, North Carolina, Epic Games which operates the game Fortnite, bought Cary Towne Center in early 2019 after the mall lost three of its five anchor tenants. Epic Games intends is to convert the retail mall into its new headquarters by 2024.

Similarly, in 2019 Google agreed to lease Westside Pavilion shopping centre in Los Angeles. Google intends to convert the space into its new office complex which is due for completion this year. The centre will also improve infrastructure by connecting to the Los Angeles Metro's Expo Line which provides light-rail service between downtown LA and Santa Monica.

Entertainment
While converting shopping malls to offices or community spaces are a way of repurposing space, there are several schemes which have maintained their consumer-focus and instead improved the offer in order to drive footfall and spend.

In 2017 the new owners of the struggling Vista Ridge Mall in Lewisville, Texas, changed its name to Music City Mall with the intention of attracting shoppers and tenants with live music and entertainment. With a focus on big artists - as well as local talent - music and entertainment acts take to the stage on the mall's second level. The mall is the second of its kind with Music City Mall in Odessa which opened in the early 2000s.

Similarly, American Dream mall in New Jersey has partnered with Live Nation to increase footfall to the centre. Making use of its existing event space, since the start of 2022 the mall has played host to several evening concerts and drawn large audiences. This not only drives footfall to the mall but also extends its ability to trade at different times of the day, flexing the programme to appeal to different audiences. The partnership with Live Nation will see a broadening of the event schedule as well as the ability to host launch parties for new releases, pre-tour kick off parties and fan events.

What can we learn from this?
While other countries do not have as many vast shopping malls as the US, they are still facing similar problems with increasing vacancy rates. While converting malls to corporate headquarters and hospital facilities is a limited option outside the US, there is something to be learnt from converting retail space to community hubs, and mixed-use schemes. Ultimately, physical space needs a purpose to be relevant. Once established, the footfall and audience it engages potentially brings future commercial opportunities.

Jo Biddle