Rural communities that once enjoyed bustling shopping malls struggle to repurpose the failing properties - Entrepreneur Generations

The Berkshire Mall in rural Lanesborough, Mass., once 
bustled with customers but has fallen into disrepair.

Rural communities that seemed lucky to have a big shopping mall two decades ago have watched the glory days of their mall fade. The communities are often left with a sprawling abandoned building, frustrated property owners and a town budget still reliant on mall property taxes.

The once-packed Berkshire Mall in Lanesborough, Mass. is a striking example of how small-town malls have declined and closed throughout the United States. "The 720,000-square-foot mall, which opened in 1988, has long been Lanesborough’s single largest taxpayer. . . . In its heyday, [it] was the place to go," reports Jim Zarroli of The New York Times. "Business had fallen off sharply by the mid-2010s. Big-box stores like JCPenney and Sears closed. . . . The movie theater went dark in 2019."

What to do with Berkshire Mall remains a problem. "As the mall sits unused, the town wants its owners, Boston-based JMJ Real Estate Holdings and its partners, to sell the property for redevelopment," Zarroli explains. "But the owners have refused, and the standoff has no end in sight."

The challenges of reinventing a mall space are more difficult and take longer in rural America. "In small towns like Lanesborough, malls are often the largest tax generator, and local officials can be reluctant to admit the big-revenue days are over, continuing to rely on that money," Zarroli writes. "They can also find themselves butting heads with mall owners, who may have different ideas about what should be done with the site."

Meanwhile, communities deal with a stretch of decaying buildings and an owner who often lives miles away. "In Maine, town officials sued the owner of the Bangor Mall, accusing it of failing to make basic repairs," Zarroli adds. "In Massachusetts, the parking lot is mostly empty. . . .Break-ins have been frequent, the police said."

The best bet is to have old mall properties repurposed or torn down, but there are obstacles. "It can take years for redevelopment to begin. In West Mifflin, Pa., near Pittsburgh, a sharp drop in business at the Century III Mall left schools, in particular, short of funds, and the owners refused to make even modest repairs, Mayor Chris Kelly said," Zarroli reports. "Century III closed in 2019 and is now being demolished. Kelly said the town was optimistic that it could redevelop the 50-acre site."


from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/TQ1Jseq Rural communities that once enjoyed bustling shopping malls struggle to repurpose the failing properties - Entrepreneur Generations

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