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Much of this story seems to be inaccurate, or perhaps outright fabricated for clickbait. The Wikipedia article for City View Center tells a much more boring sto

Much of this story seems to be inaccurate, or perhaps outright fabricated for clickbait. The Wikipedia article for City View Center tells a much more boring story: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_View_Center https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_View_Center Wal-Mart did move out because of structural problems and a methane leak, but most of the other stores moved out as a consequence of Wal-Mart leaving. Two stores remain open, and there are still plans to re-use the rest of the site. Also, despite the story talking about the buildings "sinking", the photographs included in the article clearly show the opposite is happening, the buildings are rising/floating up out of the ground, and are now higher than they were originally.

Lazare 5y ago
I googled, and apparently the plans to redevelop it as a business park have been complete and the first tenants have moved in: https://www.bizjournals.com/cleveland/news/2021/10/21/highland-park-city-view-102121.html https://www.bizjournals.com/cleveland/news/2021/10/21/highla... I dunno, it's certainly possible that some of the claims are true, but I couldn't find anyone else making them or talking about them. Which is odd, because some of what's being claimed is quite serious. I'm sceptical.
mavhc 5y ago
Does the story talk about the building sinking? Or the ground.
- mkl 5y ago
  The story talks about the ground sinking. The editorialised HN title talks about the building sinking, which may just be made up.
function_seven 5y ago
Circuit City being listed among the retailers that left in 2008 raised red flags for me. Hmmm, what happened in 2008, and with Circuit City? I'm not sure about the parking lot sinking vs. the buildings floating. On one hand, it does seem like a heavy building wouldn't stay put while the plain asphalt sunk down under virtually no weight. But maybe the foundations were properly compacted while the rest of the parking lot wasn't? Or some other steps were taken to prepare the (known) landfill for a heavy building, but nothing was done for just a plain tarmac? Because the heaviest structures floating upward while the rest of the parking lot stays put doesn't seem intuitive to me either.
- skrebbel 5y ago
  > Hmmm, what happened in 2008, and with Circuit City? I looked it up: "On November 10, 2008, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection", says Wikipedia. Circuit City was a consumer electronics chain with stores across the US.
  - function_seven 5y ago
    Ha, thanks. That's exactly what I was alluding to. This particular sinking strip mall wasn't the reason Circuit City left. The whole damn thing went under :)
- metaphor 5y ago
  > Or some other steps were taken to prepare the (known) landfill for a heavy building, but nothing was done for just a plain tarmac? Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpinning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpinning
bimboler38 5y ago
Unrelated but I found this paragraph in the article quite... weird. Natural juices and vitamins? >One woman, Sandy Funk, had begun having blackouts at the age of 37, having developed a brain tumor. She got herself onto a diet of natural juices and vitamins, and was able to live for another 18 years, but only after they had removed two thirds of her tumor via a surgery.
- rolleiflex 5y ago
  Same for me. Though I’m 50/50 on this being a deadpan joke, especially after the last part.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
jwally 5y ago
It does seem odd that a CMBS lender would finance a ~$80MM loan on a site this risky if it was this bad. I’ve worked in a special servicing (loan servicing for troubled and REO assets) shop and overheard the headaches that an environmental survey caused an old gas station or dry-cleaner; that this continues to get resurrected is curious.
resist_futility 5y ago
Toxic waste is apparently boring? "She said the proximity of a Wal-Mart store within City View Center was not a factor" said Jo-Ann spokeswoman Lisa Greb The one store was mentioned in the article and the second an Applebee's is a separate standalone building. "ground sinking at city view center" "Underneath the buildings are layers of clay, concrete, gravel and a vinyl-like material" They fortified the ground under the buildings and it still had structural issues and the ground around it kept sinking
leto_ii 5y ago
> despite the story talking about the buildings "sinking", the photographs included in the article clearly show the opposite is happening, the buildings are rising/floating up out of the ground, and are now higher than they were originally. A video posted below by fortran77 shows more clearly what's going on. The parking lot is sinking around the mall. Here's a timestamp to the relevant part: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmX1YWhYMzI&t=19m45s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmX1YWhYMzI&t=19m45s
leto_ii 5y ago
The mall actually seems to be a superfund site [1]. Hard to believe retailers got out for predominantly commercial reasons. [1] https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0510306 https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0...
- cowsandmilk 5y ago
  It is a NFRAP site which means the EPA feels no further remediation is needed and encourages the site to be returned to productive use. The EPA has a whole superfund redevelopment program.

Lazare 5y ago

I googled, and apparently the plans to redevelop it as a business park have been complete and the first tenants have moved in: https://www.bizjournals.com/cleveland/news/2021/10/21/highland-park-city-view-102121.html https://www.bizjournals.com/cleveland/news/2021/10/21/highla... I dunno, it's certainly possible that some of the claims are true, but I couldn't find anyone else making them or talking about them. Which is odd, because some of what's being claimed is quite serious. I'm sceptical.

mavhc 5y ago

Does the story talk about the building sinking? Or the ground.

mkl 5y ago
The story talks about the ground sinking. The editorialised HN title talks about the building sinking, which may just be made up.

function_seven 5y ago

Circuit City being listed among the retailers that left in 2008 raised red flags for me. Hmmm, what happened in 2008, and with Circuit City? I'm not sure about the parking lot sinking vs. the buildings floating. On one hand, it does seem like a heavy building wouldn't stay put while the plain asphalt sunk down under virtually no weight. But maybe the foundations were properly compacted while the rest of the parking lot wasn't? Or some other steps were taken to prepare the (known) landfill for a heavy building, but nothing was done for just a plain tarmac? Because the heaviest structures floating upward while the rest of the parking lot stays put doesn't seem intuitive to me either.

skrebbel 5y ago
> Hmmm, what happened in 2008, and with Circuit City? I looked it up: "On November 10, 2008, Circuit City filed for bankruptcy protection", says Wikipedia. Circuit City was a consumer electronics chain with stores across the US.
- function_seven 5y ago
  Ha, thanks. That's exactly what I was alluding to. This particular sinking strip mall wasn't the reason Circuit City left. The whole damn thing went under :)
metaphor 5y ago
> Or some other steps were taken to prepare the (known) landfill for a heavy building, but nothing was done for just a plain tarmac? Yes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpinning https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underpinning

bimboler38 5y ago

Unrelated but I found this paragraph in the article quite... weird. Natural juices and vitamins? >One woman, Sandy Funk, had begun having blackouts at the age of 37, having developed a brain tumor. She got herself onto a diet of natural juices and vitamins, and was able to live for another 18 years, but only after they had removed two thirds of her tumor via a surgery.

rolleiflex 5y ago
Same for me. Though I’m 50/50 on this being a deadpan joke, especially after the last part.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]

jwally 5y ago

It does seem odd that a CMBS lender would finance a ~$80MM loan on a site this risky if it was this bad. I’ve worked in a special servicing (loan servicing for troubled and REO assets) shop and overheard the headaches that an environmental survey caused an old gas station or dry-cleaner; that this continues to get resurrected is curious.

resist_futility 5y ago

Toxic waste is apparently boring? "She said the proximity of a Wal-Mart store within City View Center was not a factor" said Jo-Ann spokeswoman Lisa Greb The one store was mentioned in the article and the second an Applebee's is a separate standalone building. "ground sinking at city view center" "Underneath the buildings are layers of clay, concrete, gravel and a vinyl-like material" They fortified the ground under the buildings and it still had structural issues and the ground around it kept sinking

leto_ii 5y ago

> despite the story talking about the buildings "sinking", the photographs included in the article clearly show the opposite is happening, the buildings are rising/floating up out of the ground, and are now higher than they were originally. A video posted below by fortran77 shows more clearly what's going on. The parking lot is sinking around the mall. Here's a timestamp to the relevant part: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmX1YWhYMzI&t=19m45s https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmX1YWhYMzI&t=19m45s

leto_ii 5y ago

The mall actually seems to be a superfund site [1]. Hard to believe retailers got out for predominantly commercial reasons. [1] https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0510306 https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/cursites/csitinfo.cfm?id=0...

cowsandmilk 5y ago
It is a NFRAP site which means the EPA feels no further remediation is needed and encourages the site to be returned to productive use. The EPA has a whole superfund redevelopment program.