With retail tastes changing faster than a window display at the Gap, communities across the world are developing creative solutions to refresh their vacant and underutilized retail centers. Ten projects show what's possible.
"Depending on their location, the success of competing centers, demographic and population shifts, and the vagaries of local economies, some shopping centers can remain competitive by being revamped or expanded, while others may need to be transformed partly or completely to make way for nonretail uses," writes Ron Nyren.
"The following ten projects—all completed during the past five years—illustrate a range of possibilities, including relatively small-scale alterations to anchor spaces, a massive expansion that involved reconfiguring a lake, the transmutation of shops into microloft residences, and a complete overhaul that wiped out a mall and replaced it with public open space."
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Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie