Rivertown crossings mall failed mall? (Grand Rapids, Lansing: apartment, rent, condos)

[gr to okc]

I just had one of my annual visits home and I noticed the sad state of rivertown mall. The mall looks run down for 23 years old. Lost 2 anchors. Now I know retail is struggling nationwide but I think they should have went upscale when buit. With high end stores instead of middle of the road anchors.

[Zenstyle]

I remember the big hubbub when Rivertown first opened for business. Two stories! Pottery Barn! Restoration Hardware! Oh, boy! And they went and located the thing in…Grandville. “High end” and Grandville are contradictory.
Better retailers have always been timid concerning the Grand Rapids area.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by gr to okc

I just had one of my annual visits home and I noticed the sad state of rivertown mall. The mall looks run down for 23 years old. Lost 2 anchors. Now I know retail is struggling nationwide but I think they should have went upscale when buit. With high end stores instead of middle of the road anchors.

OMG you're hitting on one of my nerd topics. Please forgive the forth coming verbose rant. There's a reason Rivertown could never truly go upscale.

I know of a few malls built after Rivertown that have failed entirely, so I think it's more a sign of the times than anything. I actually find it surprising that it's not performing worse than it is currently. I also remember when it opened and it was a pretty big deal for GR. It is also the reason that Westshore Mall in Holland became obsolete, and had to be nearly torn down and redeveloped. Rivertown has a couple things working against it that's contributing to its health outside of the fact that malls are dying. A bit of a perfect storm.

1. Lack of investment. Rivertown was built by GGP right before they went through a series of bankruptcies in the mid-00's. It was never really invested in after it was built to keep it competitive as the mall landscape started tightening up. About 5-6 years ago it was sold as part of a portfolio to Brookfield Properties. Brookfield's portfolio model focuses on retail markets in cities with +2million metros. Grand Rapids may be the smallest market they own a property in. Even though the greater Grand Rapids retail market pulls from a population of over 2 million people, I don't think the folks at Brookfield see a big priority in trying to revitalize the mall. From what I can tell the rest of the Rivertown retail corridor seems to be doing ok. It's primarily the mall itself that is struggling.

2. Demography. Rivertown is a super regional center. Technically it's the type of mall that should be drawing folks in from Lansing, Kalamazoo, the lake shore, and as far away as Traverse(it did for about the first 15 years it was open). The part of the metro area it was built in is solidly middle class with decent disposable incomes and population growth. The problem is that immediate area (GR's western suburbs) is the epicenter of the "frugal" stereotype GR is known for lol. It is not conveniently near the zip codes and population base that attracts the higher end brands.

Woodland mall is 30+ years older than Rivertown but it was already strategically located near the "rich folks" who not only have higher incomes than the folks in the western suburbs, they actually spend it. Back when Rivertown was opening Taubman dropped almost $50 million into Woodland (in 90's dollars) to keep it competitive. When Rivertown opened a lot of people wrote Woodland off. They were waiting for it to die. It did seem to struggle to find it's footing for about 10 years. Taubman sold Woodland to PREIT shortly after Rivertown opened and PRIET has done a very good job of continually reinvesting in Woodland (to the tune of $150 million+) . Woodland has pulled in several "higher end" brands since. It makes sense that more premium brands would be attracted to Woodland when you consider the upgraded facilities, and higher incomes in Grand Rapids east end suburbs.

Rivertown may have been a bit over built, but I don't think it should be struggling as hard as it is. It is more a victim of neglect. Since it was opened it's suffered through ownership that has used it has a cash cow instead of maintaining it properly as a full investment. GR is still a growing market and it's retail reach still exceeds the metro area to a greater extent than many cities. It'll be curious to see if a developer comes in to try and right size and repurpose the property. I think it would do well as a lifestyle model. Especially if they take that egregious sea of parking around it and build it in with apartment communities, giving it a more mixed use atmosphere. It is teetering on obsolescence in it's current form.

[michigan lizard]

20 years is about the life cycle of a mall. They tend to struggle after that. Woodland's revitalization is beautiful to see, but costly so doesn't happen too often.

The loss of Sears and Younkers hurts many malls. Even if an anchor isn't very popular, it's still more appealing for shoppers to go to a mall with a high occupancy %. More stores drives traffic to the other stores that are there. Less stores/ traffic means lower rent and less $$ to reinvest/revitalize an aging mall. And then there's internet shopping...

[beachmouse]

When I‘m in the area, I tend to forget it’s there since the stores I can’t find at home tend to be close to the intersection of 28th street and the East Beltline. (REI, the Apple Store, Design Quest, Whole Foods for the shampoo my local WF doesn’t carry, Guitar Center, etc.)

I think the only time we get out toward Grandville is if Mom and Dad need to do a Costco run since I think that’s over there.

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by beachmouse

When I‘m in the area, I tend to forget it’s there since the stores I can’t find at home tend to be close to the intersection of 28th street and the East Beltline. (REI, the Apple Store, Design Quest, Whole Foods for the shampoo my local WF doesn’t carry, Guitar Center, etc.)

I think the only time we get out toward Grandville is if Mom and Dad need to do a Costco run since I think that’s over there.

There’s a Costco on 28th about a mile from woodland, you don’t even need to go to Grandville for that haha.

[beachmouse]

Originally Posted by mjlo

There’s a Costco on 28th about a mile from woodland, you don’t even need to go to Grandville for that haha.

They’re on the West Side of GR so Grandville seems a little easier for them to get to.

[gr to okc]

There shouldn't have never been a sears and younger. Sears was already struggling by then. Could have put a Dillard's in. And maybe Belk. It's not too late for the mall but some things gotta change

[mjlo]

Originally Posted by gr to okc

There shouldn't have never been a sears and younger. Sears was already struggling by then. Could have put a Dillard's in. And maybe Belk. It's not too late for the mall but some things gotta change

I am not sure if either Dillards or Belk has any locations north of the Ohio. Not to mention I think they'd be redundant to Macy's and JC Penney. Rivertown never needed 5 anchors lol. It was definitely overbuilt in that sense. If that mall ever gets bought by a developer actually willing to invest in it, I think they are going to have to repurpose those spaces. Maybe even tear them down and rebuild. I think if Rivertown is going to survive long term it's going to have to be transitioned into mixed use. There's more than enough unused space in those parking lots to build housing and turn into something more than just retail.

[GrandRapidsNative]

I have often thought the same about adding housing there. So much space to work with there. I wonder if its just not econically possible to do because of the infastructure? The additional water/gas/electic might be difficult to add now? Seems like a tower with condos on that property would be an awesome thing. I’d wven go as far to say that Sears, Yonkers and whatever the other anchor that was there could be repurposed and demolished to accomplish that? Got knows we need more housing in the immediate area. Its hard to find affordable homes to sell to people these days.

There is a small sliver of unused land to the south that seems to be landlocked and not very usable. Everytime I go to Home Depot I dream that it would be made into a mountain bike trail but I know that is just silly thinking and will probably never happen. But I still think about it! This area could use more trails and public green space!