The public is looking for an experience rather than somewhere that has plenty of stores under one roof. With that said, many businesses are closing their doors and mall operators are looking for different ways to utilize the space. Let’s take a look at how malls are rethinking all that dead space and making the best use of them.
Destination Malls
Instead of using their efforts to only cater to the direct community, malls are changing the way they present themselves. Through becoming a destination mall, they are appealing to a more considerable pull of people and becoming places that people want to visit. With fun activities, we can look no further than what the Mall of America has done to keep success.
Instead of offering shops that will attract people through the doors, they have created attractions such as zip lining or ice skating that people want to travel to and experience. This is one great way that malls are using undervalued areas of the mall and creating an experience rather than places to shop. Most malls have a movie theatre annexed to their premises as well.
Medical Facilities
One potential use of an abandoned mall is to become a healthcare facility. Healthcare facilities need a large amounts of space to house many different functions under one roof. So it is no surprise that one of the ways that a mall can be utilized is by converting it into a healthcare facility.
The big draw for healthcare facilities from dead malls is the space and central locations. They also offer plenty of parking that will allow them to service numerous patients. When you think about all the available space in malls, it would be a natural location for a healthcare facility.
Convention Centers and Showrooms
Transforming dead malls into event spaces is a great idea because they can be retrofitted into convention centers quite easily. They have the space to have showrooms and conference areas that allow this to be a natural progression unused space.
With tons of parking, a mall is a great place to handle all the traffic that would come from being and event space. Hosting anything from car shows to conferences, a mall could be retrofitted for any event that is being planned.
Housing
Developers can have a difficult time finding land to build multifamily housing. When malls have an abundance of open space, the more it makes sense for housing developments to be created as an alternative use. Malls provide the perfect space and design for this purpose.
Being able to cater to retail shops on the ground floor and housing on the top floor is a multi-purpose facility that caters to the needs of the community. Developers and mall operators are also integrating public libraries into these designs so they can provide the best use of space possible.
Multifamily housing with all of the possible amenities available in one convenient place is appealing to residents and business tenants alike. Multi-purpose spaces have a track history of working well together, so it is a natural progression of mall space. It wouldn’t be surprising to see that local mall that no one goes to anymore transform into housing for the area.
Continued Evolution
Malls are great commercial real estate spaces with ample parking and centralized location. As long as malls continue to lose traffic, they will need to come up with other ways to utilize their spaces. Malls are significant structures that can be used for several new developments and continue to provide valuable services to the community.
