I had that weird feeling the other day like I was the last person alive on earth when I tried taking a different way from the grabbing breakfast on my way to the US 169 project. I took the back way behind Metro North Mall.
Why is Metro North so desolate? My simple explanation is this. The Mall's owners have owned it and numerous other malls forever. Since 1976, they were the only show in town. In the meantime, all the real estate brokers (who all seem to live in JOCO) perceived the Northland as a bunch of Missouri goobers with no money (exhibit 1-see Line Creek Loudmouth). Then some out of town folks realized that the demographics up north are actually pretty good. These out of town developers started buying up property at Route 152 and I-35 and next thing you know, the KCMO side of the Shoal Creek Valley has everything.
The folks in Platte County figured out a way to fund infrastructure improvements and next thing you know, we have everything. Meanwhile, most retailers decided to take the two store approach and do stores along I-29 or I-35. When new tenants looked to expand, the Mall's owners thought they were the only game in town and it appears didn't negotiate well enough to land those tenants.
Hence, Metro is where it is today. The demographics are still strong along the US 169 corridor to support more retail. However when our local JOCO real estate folks still see corn and soybean fields when they drive up here, there is a perceived weakness of the area. They don't see the half million dollar homes in Staley Farms or all the houses in New Mark and the Willow subdivisions.
The current perception about demand at Metro can be overcome. The owners have some new folks working to redo the Mall and have an official Mall redevelopment plan website here. They have gone through the proper KCMO approval processes to facilitate a complete redo of the site including the south side of Barry Road. They also have big but realistic plans to improve the look of Barry Road from Platte Purchase to North Oak and make it look more like a boulevard.
However, that all hinges on some legal battles. When the parent owner of Zona Rosa™ wanted to move Dillards™ to anchor their phase 2, they bought the Dillards™ store. Most malls, even though they are one building, are often subdivided and the anchors own the store and parking lot and pay a common area maintenance fee.
The owners of Meto North have to deal with the Dillards™ store ownership not being under their control and in order to redo the site have to pursue legal options to make it happen. The Mall's owners have a recent track record of redeveloping sites as evidenced by their redo of the East Hills Mall in St. Joseph.
There isn't any fault to be placed on any of the parties. In this economy, any advantage over your competitors has to be utilized in order to survive. The parties are competing using what they can to stay relevant.
It is fascinating to watch how the market is working here and I hope that something gets decided so that either the plan moves forward or someone starts working on a Plan B.
While Metro North may have its issues right now, it could be worse. One of the deadest malls in America is located in my mom's hometown of Harvey, Illinois. Dixie Square Mall was opened in 1966 and closed 12 years later. The mall was made famous since it was later staged and used to film this scene.
Film credit to Universal Studios from the Blues Brothers movie.
I guess you could take your kid's small battery powered car into Metro and no one would notice and re-enact this scene at a smaller scale. Just try to keep them from running into the pool or trying to ride the balloons to the top.
I'll be surprised if a redevelopment of this site ever takes off. It would be a hard sell to retailers since most now have stores in the ZR area to the west and in the Liberty area to the east.
I feel bad for Macy's, they remodeled their store back before the mall completely emptied out. I'm kind of surprised Macy's hasn't been lured to the west or the east yet, but I'm sure it will happen. Best use of this site now would probably be apartments.
Posted by: Doug Anderson | 06/27/2012 at 08:49 AM