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At least in the UK, they're more likely to get permission to convert to residential if it's long abandoned. Housing demand in cities is much higher than the no

At least in the UK, they're more likely to get permission to convert to residential if it's long abandoned. Housing demand in cities is much higher than the normal available space on the boundaries. Carving a big box into 300 apartments more than justifies a couple of years of doing nothing with the place.

rtkwe 8y ago
That might make sense for older downtown department store and street store fronts but doesn't make sense for malls and big box stores here in the US. I don't really see any way to meet code requirements like bedrooms requiring windows in those buildings.
- wmil 8y ago
  You rip the big box down and start over. There isn't any value in the existing building
  - rtkwe 8y ago
    Maybe, not what I think of when I read 'convert to residential' though.
- taurath 8y ago
  Honestly a planned community around an abandoned mall is a great idea. You can tear up the parking lots and put a bunch of apartment buildings. Have the mall be the "town square" with a grocery store, restaurants and other shops. Build some transit there while you're at it. I'd love to live in a place like that, and it'd be much preferable over private single family homes. Of course, being new buildings it wouldn't be affordable sadly.
  - rtkwe 8y ago
    It'd be a neat idea if done well, most attempts at intentionally planned communities like that wind up being pretty fragile. It'd also ideally need a ton of parking though which brings a hard compromise between making a nice walkable pleasant park area and having enough parking that your reinvigorated area doesn't become too congested. On top of that most malls are way too large even for that, it'd be hard to build out enough shops to make the mall not feel super empty.
    - nradov 8y ago
      The Santana Row planned community in San Jose, CA has been around since 2002 and seems successful so far. They have a walkable core area with retail and restaurants, apartments above and behind, and parking garages underneath and at the edge. The developers tore down the existing structures and built from scratch. They didn't build around an existing mall (although there is an another mall across the street).
      - rtkwe 8y ago
        Yeah areas like that have the best chance of succeeding because they exist in an already lively downtown so they don't have to create all their traffic out of nothing. A community built around a dying mall though has to create enough traffic to justify businesses opening there unless they're small and cheap enough to exist solely on the business of residents.
        nradov 8y ago
        Santana Row is several miles from any lively downtown. That area is a random collection of low-density retail, restaurants, offices, and housing. Outside of Santana Row there's very little pedestrian traffic and no real night life.

rtkwe 8y ago

That might make sense for older downtown department store and street store fronts but doesn't make sense for malls and big box stores here in the US. I don't really see any way to meet code requirements like bedrooms requiring windows in those buildings.

wmil 8y ago
You rip the big box down and start over. There isn't any value in the existing building
- rtkwe 8y ago
  Maybe, not what I think of when I read 'convert to residential' though.
taurath 8y ago
Honestly a planned community around an abandoned mall is a great idea. You can tear up the parking lots and put a bunch of apartment buildings. Have the mall be the "town square" with a grocery store, restaurants and other shops. Build some transit there while you're at it. I'd love to live in a place like that, and it'd be much preferable over private single family homes. Of course, being new buildings it wouldn't be affordable sadly.
- rtkwe 8y ago
  It'd be a neat idea if done well, most attempts at intentionally planned communities like that wind up being pretty fragile. It'd also ideally need a ton of parking though which brings a hard compromise between making a nice walkable pleasant park area and having enough parking that your reinvigorated area doesn't become too congested. On top of that most malls are way too large even for that, it'd be hard to build out enough shops to make the mall not feel super empty.
  - nradov 8y ago
    The Santana Row planned community in San Jose, CA has been around since 2002 and seems successful so far. They have a walkable core area with retail and restaurants, apartments above and behind, and parking garages underneath and at the edge. The developers tore down the existing structures and built from scratch. They didn't build around an existing mall (although there is an another mall across the street).
    - rtkwe 8y ago
      Yeah areas like that have the best chance of succeeding because they exist in an already lively downtown so they don't have to create all their traffic out of nothing. A community built around a dying mall though has to create enough traffic to justify businesses opening there unless they're small and cheap enough to exist solely on the business of residents.
      - nradov 8y ago
        Santana Row is several miles from any lively downtown. That area is a random collection of low-density retail, restaurants, offices, and housing. Outside of Santana Row there's very little pedestrian traffic and no real night life.