The near 30 year old Greeley Mall goes on the auction block today for a fraction of its original building cost. The mall, which is currently in foreclosure, has been looking for a buyer for over two years.
The traditional "suburban" mall may be on its final leg, as a new type of retail shopping destination emerges.
Remember when the mall was the center of suburbia? 50鈥檚 sales frame the shopping center as an endless line of customers out the door, beckoned by the concept of 鈥榦ne stop shopping鈥� and modern amenities.
鈥淭he shopping centers have built fountains, commissioned statues, put in restaurants and free standing stairways, they鈥檝e including banks loan offices rental plans plant nursery and places to buy building materials.鈥�
In Northern Colorado 鈥� the Greeley Mall, the Twin Peaks Mall in Longmont, and the Foothills Mall in Ft. Collins have stood for decades as popular shopping destinations, and a steady source of sales tax revenue for their respective cities.
But times have certainly changed.
Two of these malls have been in ; the other sits on land that can legally be considered .
The Greeley Mall.
Taking a stroll inside the Greeley Mall today, you see vacant store front after vacant store front. The halls are virtually empty. Sales people at kiosks read books to pass the time.
Robert Cosas works at the Radio Shack. The only person in the store, he leans against a display case waiting for a customer. He says business here is good, but he鈥檚 afraid the empty storefronts are driving people away.
鈥淚 know a lot of the owners. I鈥檝e even heard rumors. I鈥檓 not going to say who, but they鈥檝e said they鈥檙e thinking of leaving at the beginning of this year.鈥�
So What Happened?
鈥淚 think the economic situation changed on every one.鈥�
Eric Berglund is President of Upstate Colorado Economic Development, in .
鈥淎t one point, you didn鈥檛 know anyone that was laid off, and then suddenly it was your neighbor or someone in your family. So I think it鈥檚 a combination of all those things, and it鈥檚 almost a perfect storm.鈥�
Berglund also points out that some mall owners had little capital during the recession and were unable to keep up with consumer demand for slicker, more modern-looking upgrades.
The Lifestyle Center.
鈥淲hat we鈥檝e done for decades has really created some pretty bad things.鈥�
Jeremy Nemeth heads the Urban Design Program at the University of Colorado鈥檚 College of . He says the traditional, suburban mall has outlived its time.
"You know we鈥檝e created low density sprawling suburbs, and we鈥檙e now dealing with the consequences with what I鈥檝e heard people call 鈥榙ead malls鈥� or vacant commercial strip developments.鈥�
Nemeth says traditional low density malls built as urban centers are out. And outdoor focused developments like Belmar in Lakewood, Crossroads in Boulder, and to a lesser extent Centerra in Loveland are in. These places have the stores, but also condos, ice rinks, artist studios鈥asically whole neighborhoods.
鈥淲e have lost that connection with other people that we鈥檙e looking for. The suburbs are no longer filled with that nuclear family. In Denver the suburbs are much more diverse then the city is becoming.鈥� Nemeth says.
Dead malls? Not so fast.
I went to Cherry Creek to ask mall manager Nick LeMasters what he thought about Nemeth鈥檚 comments.
He says a big change is happening in the retail world, but it鈥檚 not between lifestyle centers and the traditional mall.
鈥淛ust because you take the roof off a mall, doesn鈥檛 automatically mean it鈥檚 going to be a more attractive place to shop. Here we sit inside a typical enclosed mall environment, and we reside successfully right next to Cherry Creek North, which is really the outdoor village, it鈥檚 always been a lifestyle center. So here we successfully coexist.鈥�
LeMasters believes people shouldn鈥檛 write off the traditional mall concept. However, changes have to be made to keep it and other malls like it relevant and appealing for retailers and consumers.
鈥淭here is a fundamental shift, and the shift is this. There is a bifurcation in our industry. The strong malls are doing well, and succeeding and thriving. The malls that haven鈥檛 kept pace are struggling, and we鈥檙e seeing it all across America. And it鈥檚 a phenomenon that mall owners and developers will have to wrap their heads around.鈥�
The Greeley Mall, once again.
The opening bid for this week鈥檚 on-lineof the Greeley Mall is expected to be around three million dollars. A deal compared to its one time value of 41 million dollars. But this is the second time the mall has been up for auction in the past 16 months.
The lender was the sole bidder on the facility the last time it was up .
UPDATE 03.05.2012 - 1:30pm: The opening bid for the Greeley Mall has been lowered. It had been set at $3 million dollars, it is now $1 million dollars.
