Redevelopment of strip malls/power centers into mixed use districts

[Suburb Repairman]

We've got an approximately 40 acre strip center that will be going dark in about a year as all three major anchors move to new, larger locations on the freeway. For perspective on the existing building size: it contained a Target, JCPenny, and Best Buy. The existing structures are pretty typical suburban-style strip--oversized parking, no relationship to the street, little architectural interest, etc. The property has excellent rail & road access, with frontage on two minor arterial streets, a major gateway arterial that leads to downtown about a mile away, and the freeway.

There will not be a regional commuter rail stop there, but the rail ROW is wide enough to allow something like an ultra-light rail/cable car to run alongside at some point in the future, or an express bus lane, to reach the regional station in downtown.

We are looking for examples of similar strip centers that have been reinvented as mixed use projects. Bonus points for examples of public-private partnerships! It would be especially good if someone had examples of Tax Increment Reinivestment Zones (or something similar) being used as a carrot to promote appropriate redevelopment and make it more financially feasible.

Though this has not been discussed at all, there is a 30 acre housing authority site adjacent to the property that separates it from a college football stadium. I've tinkered in my head with redeveloping that along with it to create connectivity with a sports venue and bump those economies of scale up a bit with a larger site.

[mendelman]

here is a link to a thread I did recently:
Arlington Market redevelopment

It is similar (a large-ish, 15 acre empty shopping center) that has been approved for new commercial space, small lot single family, and 2 mid-rise condo buildings.

This was not a public-private thing, but we certainly didn't discourage it.

[Senior Jefe]

Check-out the Belmar Center in Lakewood, Colorado. http://www.lakewood.org/index.cfm?&i...mar/belmar.cfm It is a mixed use development that replaced a dead regional mall in a Denver suburb using the public-private partnership model.

[bocian]

here is a link to a thread I did recently:
Arlington Market redevelopment

It is similar (a large-ish, 15 acre empty shopping center) that has been approved for new commercial space, small lot single family, and 2 mid-rise condo buildings.

This was not a public-private thing, but we certainly didn't discourage it.

Interesting how the development includes 'detached townhouses' -- I've never heard that term before... They look more like cluster homes to me...

[mendelman]

Interesting how the development includes 'detached townhouses' -- I've never heard that term before... They look more like cluster homes to me... yeah, I think it a dumb term. It's bascially a marketing ploy by the developer to avoid having to say "small lot single-family" because then everyone cries about overcrowding, and we don't want to become Chicago".

[jmello]

yeah, I think it a dumb term. It's bascially a marketing ploy by the developer to avoid having to say "small lot single-family" because then everyone cries about overcrowding, and we don't want to become Chicago".

As far as I know, the definition of a "townhome" is an attached home. Those are just normal single-family houses. They likely sell for less because of the misnomer.

[hilldweller]

here is a link to a thread I did recently:
Arlington Market redevelopment

It is similar (a large-ish, 15 acre empty shopping center) that has been approved for new commercial space, small lot single family, and 2 mid-rise condo buildings.

This was not a public-private thing, but we certainly didn't discourage it.

It seems like a pretty realistic application of mixed-use to a suburban setting that developers would buy into. Designed so they can flip the different phases individually, no?

[mendelman]

It seems like a pretty realistic application of mixed-use to a suburban setting that developers would buy into. Designed so they can flip the different phases individually, no?

Exactly. And this location is about 1 mile from our quite nice urban downtown and commuter train station.

It'll be infinitely better than the vast expanse of empty asphalt parking lot.

[b3nr]

Interesting how the development includes 'detached townhouses' -- I've never heard that term before... They look more like cluster homes to me...

Interesting, i assumed the term was prevelent in the states too. 'Detatched House' refers to a house not attached to any other. 'Semi-Detatched' are two houses which share a party wall. 'Terrace' are rows of more than three houses in a row. 'Town house' would be the equivelent of your 'Townhomes' and are usually three story. The term Flats and Apartments are interchangeable.

Boring huh? Thats proberbly where the term comes from.

[Wildono]

William Hudnut's Halfway to Everywhere, an Urban Land Institute book, has a chapter on 'De-Malling Malls' that would be worth a look for its case study approach. The older ring suburbs covered in that chapter include: Wauwatosa, WI; Whitehall, OH; Winter Park, FL; Park Forest, IL; Jennings, MO; and New Rochelle, NY.

[Urbansense]

Hi there,

Just saw your post...I have a Ph.D from UC Irvine in Urban Planning and I specialize in the redevelopment of underperforming mall sites. I have a lot of information that could be quite relevant for your mall site. You are welcome to visit my website www.marielaalfonzo.com and take a look around and email from that site for futher info....I can also send you a one page "fact sheet" that summarizes my research and main findings.

Look forward to hearing from you.

P.S.
One of my case sites was a public-private partnership and the expansion of another of my case sites is being structured as a JV...

[Chet]

PVT me i have some examples that envolve transit but not rail. I'd post URLs but dont want to hype my olde company