By Robert Dean
Guest Columnist
I live near a shopping mall. I go there when I need things because I hate Amazon. If I can avoid giving Jeff Bezos another dime, I do. So, I buy my Doc Martens, my Vans, my socks, even a funeral suit coat in person. Whenever I go, the clerks look at me like I’m some kind of foreign object, like they don’t get many folks around these parts. Watching stores hang on for dear life, one customer at a time, it’s clear we could be using this space for better things.
I’m well aware the mall is on its way out. People love the ease of a box dropped at their door. As the mall goes the way of the diplodocus, the question becomes: what do we do with these big, hulking plots of land?
Turn them into housing.
Not high-dollar condos for guys in $465 loafers, but real mixed-use space. Those two-floor anchor stores like Macy’s or JCPenney could be converted into countless units. The average cost of housing in the U.S. is around $420,000, with the median closer to $310,000 depending on the source. Median rent for a one-bedroom sits around $1,500 nationally. We need affordable housing, and these spaces are sitting right in front of us. There’s parking, existing infrastructure, even things like theaters that could be repurposed.
So, what’s holding us back? Red tape. And money.
Turning malls into housing sounds simple, but two big obstacles get in the way. First, the buildings are expensive to convert. Adaptive reuse projects often run 20–30% more per unit than new construction because malls weren’t designed for people to live in. They have deep floor layouts, limited natural light, aging systems, and infrastructure that has to be rebuilt almost entirely. Second, even when conversion makes sense, it’s often not allowed. An estimated 70–80% of U.S. malls are zoned strictly for commercial use, meaning developers face long, uncertain rezoning processes before they can even begin. Together, those costs and restrictions make a straightforward idea much harder to pull off.
Still, cities are starting to test it. In Culver City, plans for the Westfield mall include adding hundreds of housing units alongside retail. Santa Clara is replacing the failed Vallco Mall with a large mixed-use project that includes thousands of homes. And in Austin, Highland Mall has been repurposed into a college campus, with housing growing around it, now a small ecosystem with shops, a 24-hour coffee spot, and green space. These projects show the concept works, but also how slow and complicated the process can be.
Incentives exist, but they’re limited. In some cities, property tax abatements can reduce operating costs by 10–30% over the first decade, often making the difference between a project happening or not. The federal Historic Tax Credit covers 20% of rehab costs, but only for designated historic buildings. Most malls don’t qualify. Expanding incentives like these could help push more projects forward.
As affordability slips further out of reach, we need to think seriously about how we provide housing not just for those at the poverty line, but for people trying to avoid being buried in long-term debt. Imagine how different life looks without a massive mortgage or rent that eats half your income. Thinking creatively about housing, with buy-in from both communities and decision-makers, shouldn’t be controversial.
The mall isn’t coming back. It sucks for community connection but not for Bezos, I guess.
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