Eastland Mall: Feliz Navidad 2011
Eastland Mall could reopen as early as Christmas 2011 with a major facelift to include a Hispanic theme and dozens of small businesses, instead of a handful of major anchor stores, as the catalyst to drive future development.
Texas-based Boxer Properties bought the main section of the now-shuttered mall – about 500,000 square feet – for $2 million in June, but doesn’t own the space formerly occupied by the mall’s major anchor stores.
The company had previously considered asking the city for financial support in either luring those anchor tenants back into the fold, or razing the whole site and starting from scratch.
But Andrew Segal, president of Boxer Properties, appeared to back off that approach Monday night, rolling out a new vision for Charlotte City Council that he has for redeveloping the Eastland site. At the same time, though, he didn’t rule out the possibility of asking the city for financial support moving forward.
Segal wants to use the interior section of the mall, perhaps as little as 100,000 square feet to start, to house shops and kiosks rented to start-up companies that could serve as what he called “an instant incubator for business,” with the goal to grow into something larger and act as a draw for major anchor stores to follow.
The initial mix of stores and public amenities would be called “El Mercado,” Segal said, although the overall property would likely retain the Eastland moniker.
“The idea is create an anchor ourselves,” Segal said, while creating a unique retail destination for the city’s eastside community.
The redeveloped site, Segal said, would include plenty of public spaces geared toward family-friendly entertainment: a movie theater, food court, stages for live entertainment and lounges for hanging out and watching television. No word, yet, on the fate of Eastland Mall’s iconic ice rink, although Segal didn’t rule out keeping it as an attraction.
The mercado concept has worked with other Boxer developments, Segal said, highlighting the company’s venture in Fort Worth, Texas, where they purchased a failing mall and converted it into La Gran Plaza, a Hispanic-themed retail destination that features small shops inside and an exterior of Spanish Colonial facades in bright colors. Boxer Properties also manages the La Plaza Fiesta shopping center in Fort Mill.
Segal cautioned, however, against reading too much into reopening Eastland with an overtly Hispanic theme.
“We’re talking about a theme and not a customer,” he told councilmembers. “Taco Bell has a Hispanic theme, but you don’t have to be Mexican to eat there.”
Louise Woods, co-chair of the Eastland Area Strategies Team, said she was excited by the concept of “trying to create an energy and destination around a theme,” but hoped it would ultimately extend to include more diversity in marketing.
“He brought a concept that he can work with the council and the community to massage,” Woods said. “The fact that he came here tonight, even though they have their own ideas, it means that communication and conversation can happen, to create something special for this community.”
Councilmember Nancy Carter, a Democrat whose district includes east Charlotte, said she appreciated Segal’s vision, but also hoped any redevelopment of Eastland would have a more multi-cultural and multi-national theme, which she said would more accurately reflect the eastside community’s diversity.
Carter also seemed hesitant about leaving the mall’s major anchor stores vacant, as part of a redevelopment launch.
“Having vacant space is like having blank in a conversation,” she said. “People become anxious, concerned.”
Councilmember Andy Dulin, a Republican, had his own concerns, primarily the potential for added development costs that would be created, he said, by the city’s new tree ordinance and its post-construction control regulations.
“I’m not trying to scare you,” Dulin told Segal, “but it’d scare the heck out of me if it was my money.”
Of course, if Segal and Boxer Properties end up asking the city for financial help – and why should they be any different – it could be everybody’s money.
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