More Americans Living In Malls

Malls are becoming home addresses for more Americans as real estate developers knock down former department store spaces and construct apartment buildings in their place, CNBC reports. Nearly 200 U.S. malls planned to add housing to their footprint as of January 2022, and at least 33 had constructed apartments since the pandemic began.

The trend not only helps to chip away the housing shortage in the U.S., CNBC notes, but also brings people closer to the remaining retail and restaurant spaces in shopping centers.

“The mall is becoming cool again,” said Jacob Knudsen, the VP of Development for Macerich, which is currently redeveloping the FlatIron Crossing Mall in Broomfield, Colo., by adding housing. “So being able to live by it, work by it, play by it, go to restaurants by it, we’re definitely seeing this as a trend.”

As companies like Macy’s, JCPenney and Sears shrink or cease to exist altogether, real estate developers have been forced to get creative to repurpose those spaces, which typically take up at least half of a mall’s footprint. That’s led to such uses as Amazon distribution centers, pickleball courts and even an NHL training facility replacing big-box stores at American malls. But as the country contends with a housing shortage, the fastest-growing use of these spaces is apartment complexes, real estate developers said.

One such project is underway at Westfield’s Garden State Plaza in Paramus, N.J. “They have excess land, instead of using it for retail, they’re putting in apartments,” said Oscar Parra, Principal at Pacific Retail Capital Partners’ Special Situations Group told CNBC. “They didn’t see value in adding more retail to one of the most productive malls on the planet and that’s a signal.”

Click here for more from the CNBC report.

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