New Life Sought for Tired Shopping Malls

The Journal Star article "New life sought for tired shopping malls" dated December 25th brings to light what many developers are contemplating when faced with empty store fronts around the US.  As national retailers pulled back from expansion plans over the last few years, property owners have changed gears and redeveloped old shopping centers into mixed-use areas where residential units/condos coincide with retail stores at the street level.  An example closer to home is the old Aksarben race track area where Omaha developers are turning it into a "village" with shops, movie theaters, apartments, and green space.

Lincoln has seen smaller redevelopment projects in the downtown area with such recent projects as:

• Lincoln Flats - $6 million mixed-use project at 1314 O Street.  The developer took vacant office space on the upper floors and created 24 condos.
• 1226 P Street - The owners, B & J Partnership, are currently redeveloping the upper floors into residential units and retail uses will remain on the street level.
• W.C. Shinn lofts - A former lightning rod factory has been transformed into 15 residential units at 126 N. 16th Street.

You might recall though this type of redevelopment happened before in Lincoln's history with the transformation of the Haymarket area from industrial to mixed-use. 

As a number of large vacant retail buildings (i.e. Gordmans, Hy-Vee at 70th & O Streets and the old K-Mart building at 56th & Hwy. 2) sit vacant in Lincoln it will take creativity, time and risk from developers to see those buildings change into a viable use again.