Mall redevelopments delayed

Mixed-use development at the Columbia Town Center in Columbia, Maryland, and at Cottonwood Mall in Holladay, Utah, is being delayed by the depressed economy and by the bankruptcy filing of the Chicago-based owner, General Growth Properties (GGP). The company, which owns, manages, or has an interest in more than 200 shopping malls in 45 states, filed for Chapter 11 reorganization April 16 after being unable to keep up with payment obligations on its $27 billion in debt. GGP project manager Greg Hamm told the Baltimore press in late April that expansion and diversification of Columbia Town Center would go forward, but not as soon as was anticipated prior to the world economic crisis. Hamm indicated that the Columbia project, which calls for about 5,500 residential units, 5 million sq. ft. of offices, 1 million sq. ft. of new retail, and 1,000 hotel rooms, is being slowed by the difficulty that nearly all developers now face in obtaining financing. Seth Harry, a new urbanist planning consultant, told New Urban News that people within GGP have assured him they are committed to pursuing the plan. “My impression is that GGP recognizes the long-term value of building mixed-use and will likely continue to shift their focus in that direction,” said Harry. GGP is continuing to push the project through the Howard County approval process. GGP’s plan to redevelop the nearly dead Cottonwood Mall in the Salt Lake City area into a $550 million town center has also been postponed by a year or two, according to GGP Vice President Kris Longson. “National tenants are not signing leases right now on new projects,” Longson noted, according to a report in The Salt Lake Tribune. “When things do change, we’re going to be ready to go,” Longson declared. The 57-acre redevelopment, which stands to receive $96 million in property tax subsidies, could open in 2012 or 2013, he said.