It’s Not [m]All Good

One of West Ashley’s main commercial cornerstones has apparently been shaken. This week, Citadel Mall, the 1.1 million-square-foot shopping and dining destination, has entered into foreclosure.
According to multiple media reports, CBL & Associates, the mall’s owners, had defaulted on the majority of a $75-million loan on the massive property. As a result, a federal court has turned the property over to a Syracuse, N.Y.-based company, Spinoso Real Estate Group, to manage it while the default and potential foreclosure proceeds.
There will be no interruption to the mall’s business or daily operations while the legal and financial wrangling is handled. That being said, last Friday the mall’s 20 m.p.h. speed limit signs could have doubled for occupancy limit signs in some of the anchor stores’ parking lots, where few cars could be spotted.
The mall — rife currently with vacancies and spots where its former walkway kiosks have taken over darkened storefronts — has been home to as many as 100 different stores. The mall first opened in 1981, and its current anchor stores include Belk, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Sears, Target, and a freestanding Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Citadel Mall’s future had long been fretted over by locals and government officials, who had seen traffic numbers along bordering streets drop, as the center of West Ashley’s hot commercial district moved further out Glenn McConnell Parkway.
City of Charleston Business Services director Jonathon Oakman said the announcement that the mall had gone into foreclosure came “unexpectedly.”
The mall, according to local officials like state Rep. Leon Stavrinakis (D-Charleston), has been especially hard hit by the opening of the Tanger Outlets equally expansive retail facility in North Charleston.
Stavrinakis, echoing other officials’ comments, said that Tanger has been the most direct competitor for Citadel Mall, potentially siphoning away many shoppers hailing from further down the Interstate 26 corridor, from communities like Summerville and Goose Creek.
Stavrinakis is currently calling for local officials from all levels of government to come together for a meeting in the coming few weeks to craft a cohesive redevelopment plan for the mall area.
“It’s just too important for us all not to be on the same page,” said Stavrinakis.
Stavrinakis has also already roped in the local Chamber of Commerce, and the local Realtors association.
“We need input from everyone to put together a plan that will not only help the mall, but the retail corridor,” said Stavrinakis. “The city has been working on a plan, but the problem is not everything there is in the city, and the city is not the only one with ideas.”
One of the first elected officials to join with Stavrinakis was County Councilwoman Colleen Condon, who represents West Ashley. Condon said that she was looking forward to new management breathing new life into Citadel Mall.
Citing the large residential base of potential shoppers already present in West Ashley, the situation at the mall isn’t as dire as some have projected, according to Condon.
“Look at the Citadel Mall Stadium 16 (cinema),” said Condon. “No one used to go there, but after they re-did it, it’s almost always packed.” Condon said that development overlay zones she’s recently presented at County Council meeting could help.
West Ashley City Councilman Bill Moody also sees a silver lining ringing the mall’s dark cloud.
“We knew it was in trouble,” intoned Moody, adding that this may be “the opportunity to change the downward trajectory. We could now use a visionary developer!”
Should the mall truly be in danger of closing, there are a host of suggestions of saving it, and making it once again a prime destination.
Moody’s plan would be to leave the four “big box” stores in place, and then create a “town center” with wide-open spaces. He would welcome ridding the site and the area of “wide expanses of boring asphalt.”
Casey Glowacki, who co-owns the very busy Sesame Burgers and Beer restaurant located next to the Target, has already championed turning some of the square-footage into an indoor skating and BMX facility.
Phil Burke, tennis director at nearby St. Andrews Parks and Playgrounds, said he would like to see a mixed-use facility rising out of the current muck the mall is mired in, combining athletic fields with entertainment opportunities, with shopping and government uses.
Oakman said that in other communities, malls have agreed to turn over space to public libraries. But, he said, most “alternative” uses usually don’t have strong fiscal numbers to back up those strategies.
A mall’s management and owners, for instance, would basically have to give away valuable store space for something like a library for it to make sense for local governments to go in. And that, he said really doesn’t work for either party.
The future may be grimmer for the mall, despite the optimism and planning, thanks to the proposed completion of Interstate 526. While some planners hail the completion as a way to link James and Johns islands to Citadel Mall, others worry shoppers will trundle past onto Tanger, or even on to Towne Centre in Mt. Pleasant.
Additionally, should I-526 be completed, the value of a Sam Rittenberg Boulevard location could plummet, planners and officials have worried, as motorists would no longer need it as a vital link between Old Town Road and St. Andrews Boulevard and Savannah Highway.
Already, several national big box stores formerly located on Sam Rittenberg have either closed or relocated to other spots in West Ashley.
While many malls have struggled to survive as long as Citadel Mall has, whether or not this one will have a second life, is hard to tell.